


I Got This Friend

by HackdrawerMcHugglesWorthRivertonThe3rd



Category: One Piece
Genre: Angst, Demons, Drama, Ghost Hunters, Ghosts, Heartaches/Headaches, M/M, Supernatural Drama
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-02-19 07:16:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 98,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22040521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HackdrawerMcHugglesWorthRivertonThe3rd/pseuds/HackdrawerMcHugglesWorthRivertonThe3rd
Summary: *COMPLETE* Months after the events of "Under the Dome," Sanji and Law find themselves starting over. But there are always bumps in the road - especially angry ghosts that don't appreciate the bothering.
Relationships: Trafalgar D. Water Law/Vinsmoke Sanji, Vinsmoke Sanji/Trafalgar D. Water Law
Comments: 82
Kudos: 73





	1. Chapter 1

A/N: Here is the sequel to "Under the Dome." It's painful but im in the right mood for it so im trying to capture it. The song is from the Civil Wars. Check it out on YT to get an idea of where this will go ;)

**1: I Got This Friend**

* * *

Glass shattered over his head, raining shards and liquid over the wall and dancing lightly into his hair. He couldn't help but duck, hands lifting to protect himself. The air swelled with venomous feeling and angry screams that shifted with a whirlwind of sound. The pictures on the walls rattled noisily, one falling to the floor and cracking noisily against the linoleum.

 _Why_?

 _Why_?

 _Why_?

Cautiously, Sanji peeked through his fingers, shoulders hunched to his ears. The mass of dark purple mist with bulging red eyes, extended mouth and hair that moved like open mouthed snakes seemed to whirl in place before him. There were flashes of a human face, flashes of limbs and a pretty yellow dress, but her form was of pure anger and rage, rendering her into a somewhat demonic creature. He'd almost convince himself that she was something from the depths of Hell, but he'd already seen her as a sad, lonely woman.

Once she slowed her furious actions, her breath was heavy with rage and shook with each exhalation. Her dress hem fluttered at her calves as her bare feet took to the linoleum floor with an angry pace. She resumed looking human once more, purple mist dissipating from her form. Nervousness, anxiety and empathy raced through Sanji as he watched her cautiously, already aware of the weaponry at her hands. His underarms felt sweaty, his muscles tense with apprehension – he was ready to flee as the woman's anger continued to swell up like a building tornado.

" _This is unfair_!" she shrilled, her voice high pitched with emotions as her hair lifted and rose around her shoulders with static. Her dress lapels fluttered as her angry eyes turned blood red and her mouth unhinged with monstrous dexterity. " _WHY_?"

Taking a calming breath, Sanji managed to straighten his shoulders. The area around her bare feet seemed to rattle as her pacing stopped, her hands fluttering with angry action in front of her. Seeking to grope at the nearby china cabinet, cups and dishes rattling with fragile music.

He understood that she was angry – she had every right to do so, he supposed. He could sympathize with her. But his negotiating skills with the angry dead was very minimal and very weak, and his mind rushed with panic, losing the words he intended on using and having him stammer.

"Now, I know you feel bad," he stuttered, "b-but acting out in anger isn't helping you, or anybody - !"

"It's the only way that I feel! Are you saying that I _shouldn't_ be angry?" she snarled at him, hair rising around her head and shoulders like tentacles as the linoleum vibrated once more, and the dishes rattled dangerously atop of the shelves. "I _shouldn't_ be feeling pissed off?"

"…You can," he said weakly. "You're allowed, but…it – these rages have to stop, because there are consequences – "

"From _you_? What gives _you_ the right to tell _me_ how to feel or what to do? I have spent all this time waiting for him to come home to me," she wept, patting her chest. "I am _still_ waiting - !"

After a few moments, Sanji turned to look at the three men sitting nearby. All of them looked bored. Beyond their heads and shoulders, the outside was brilliant with the afternoon sun, and robins were hopping around the meticulously cut lawn. Street traffic was minimal, but there was an older woman with a dog taking a power-walk down the sidewalk. None of them could hear this ghost's – _poltergeist_ – words.

The woman didn't have a gleam, and she wasn't addressing Law. It was Sanji she was focused on, because he could hear and see her just as normally as he would with the living.

He was new to this ghost hunting thing, he didn't have answers.

Penguin looked up from his cellphone while Shachi covered his yawn. Law glanced at Sanji from the corner of his eye while he drummed his fingers over his sword's carrying case held over his lap. The three of them overwhelmingly took up the single couch against the bay window; all three dressed from head to toe black, with varying differences. Their white van was visible against the curb, windows down and scented trees swaying slightly with the afternoon breeze.

"Look at this meme," Penguin murmured, showing them his phone screen.

Sanji couldn't help but snatch the phone out of Penguin's hand with a snarl.

"Why you so mad, bro?" Penguin complained while Shachi scratched at his redhead.

"She has to approach me," Law stated roughly, adjusting his hat. "And I've heard nothing."

"She's throwing dishes all over the fucking living room!" Sanji pointed out.

"I mean, she's not mad at _us_ ," Shachi defended, crossing his arms over his chest.

Giving an exasperated growl, Sanji hissed at them before returning his attention to the maddened ghost that once again resumed her human form. Her eyes were a deep violet, and her hair dark, fringe fluttering over her pretty features. She had a cigarette tugged out from her dress pocket, lit and smoking within moments. Sanji tossed Penguin's phone back to him with a hard thrust of his hand, Penguin catching it clumsily.

"I'm going to edit this out," Shachi assured Sanji, indicating the Go-Pro he had attached to his hat. "Just so we're not sharing any…unattractive points on our more exciting jobs."

"Can you _please_ tell him exactly what you're saying to me?" Sanji asked her, gesturing at Law.

"I don't want to talk to him," she said simply, waving her cigarette around. " _You're_ the one that barged in here and started talking to me. So I am talking to you."

 _I didn't_ _barge_ , Sanji wanted to argue, swallowing tightly. He'd walked in quietly behind the group, nervous about the encounter while the owner of the house talked excitedly to the others about his newest vehicle in the driveway. The owner had an idea that his house was haunted; he'd come home to broken dishes and toppled bookshelves, but had never actually seen a ghost. He'd sworn he'd heard a woman cry, but he couldn't be entirely sure.

Penguin and Shachi had talked companionably with him while Law accompanied Sanji throughout the house, Sanji searching for the woman. He'd found her in the basement, crying over the washing machine. When she grew aware of him, she'd taken refuge on the first floor, and angrily paced the house while the others grew bored. The owner had excused himself to the backyard, where he was watering his flowerboxes.

"All I'd asked," Sanji said slowly, hands steepling together, "was that you move on. Leave this place."

"I don't want to. This is my home," she insisted. "I don't care who comes in here. I care who tells me to leave. I'm waiting for my husband! He will be back for me!"

"You've been dead for over fifty years," Sanji told her patiently. "Time has moved on without you, so has your husband – "

"How do you know she's been dead for fifty years?" Shachi interrupted curiously. "Is she still hot?"

Sanji paused in mid-word to look over at him with a disgusted frown.

"Is she a housewife?" Penguin asked with interest, looking up from his phone.

After a glance at four fingers, Law asked with concern, "Considering the length of time between marriages and the amount of men she married, which one is she waiting for? Because more than likely, they're all gone."

She tossed her cigarette aside and reached out, grabbing hold of the china dish hutch. The sight of the cabinet creaking noisily before being hauled by invisible hands to the floor caused the trio to give jolts, escaping the noisy shatter of glass, dishes and cracking wood. The woman once again reverted to her shifting mass of purple mist, hair tentacles lifting to the ceiling while her eyes glowed red and her mouth unhinged to release a horrendous scream of outrage.

"Til death do us part!" she shrilled. " _I_ might be dead, but he's not!"

"Man, I hope that wasn't valuable," Penguin complained, looking down at the mess. She swept through him, and he shivered. "Oh, _wow_. That's some strong AC…"

The curtains fluttered fiercely as she slapped at them, cursing furiously. The sight of curtains moving without any visible help caused Shachi and Law to watch with visible interest.

"She's not a demon of any sort," Sanji reported, ready to flee once she reached for the knick-knacks lovingly placed atop of shelves throughout the living room, "but she's furious that her husband left her here."

"Which one?" Law asked with confusion.

"That's all?" Shachi complained as she picked up a couple of cat figurines and tossed them at Sanji. Sanji ducked, Law looking at the items being picked up from shelves and flung across the room by an unseen force.

"Keep it up," he told Sanji, pulling his sword out from its case. Sanji ducked and shifted as she screamed furiously. The owner of the house walked in from the kitchen, startled to hearing a mess being made. He caught sight of the figurines being tossed in the air by an invisible hand, and went stark white.

"Down he goes," Penguin reported uselessly as the man fainted.

Law lunged forward and cut the woman in half. Purple ashes burst into view, flung like dirt from standing point to the wall, dusting the remaining shelves with matter. The abrupt silence and lack of emotion and heat felt similar to being caught in a sudden electrical black-out. Sanji lifted his head to see that the woman ( _ghost_ ) was gone. With a puzzled frown, Law examined the blade of his sword then flicked it aside, ashes catching the air.

"I got her," he reported gravely, looking back at Sanji. "Right? She's gone?"

Sanji nodded numbly. The stark silence and seemingly emptiness of a room that was once vibrant with the seething anger of a helpless ghost left behind by circumstances unknown felt like a kick to the lungs. He reached up to adjust his glasses, then fiddled with his messy hair. Giving him an uncertain look, Law sheathed his weapon while Shachi and Penguin attended to the house's owner.

"There's no reason to feel bad if you didn't know her personally," Law advised him stiffly.

Sanji looked at the ashes imprinted on the wall. It almost looked like the shape of the woman herself. Biting words died on his tongue as the owner started to rouse, demanding answers. Shachi assured him that they'd caught the incident on his Go-Pro, and would show him the footage.

: :

Six months after the night Sora Vinsmoke was escorted into the light, the change of his lifestyle was something Sanji was still adjusting to. All his life he'd interacted with ghosts – but the clingy protection of his mother (a long story) had left him unprepared to deal with the dead that were too restless to sleep. Combined with the introverted timidity of his nature (a resulting effect of sibling bullying and for the fact that he spoke to people that no one else could see), Sanji was also immersed with getting to know a stranger in a boyfriend's (no, wait, _pet's_ ) skin.

That was the most difficult situation out of all of them, he decided.

"You'd warned me that this wasn't the type of job for me," Sanji said hours later, as Law meticulously polished his sword. The return trip back to the city had seen them to the back doors of the Polar Tang – a bar that had been owned by Law and run by his crew for years (he still wasn't sure how many). The older man was settled with a basket of sword cleaning tools while Sanji sat self-consciously aside of him, cold hands settled between his bony knees.

Jean shorts, white Vans, a pink polo shirt with tiny flamingos on them – a stained dirty white zip-up hoodie was then given attention as Sanji's fingers found the broken zipper that he shifted up and down. He felt like a dowdy kid compared to the older man's stark white shirt with black tie, the sleeves rolled up to reveal his tattoos. His trousers were pressed and his polished shoes were given a faint gleam underneath the bar's lights – Penguin kept calling Law a missionary.

"…and I told you I couldn't do it. But telling me I shouldn't feel shit for people that I don't know – regardless if I know them or not, knowing that these people are still feeling the emotions they had before they passed still makes me fucking human!"

"Boundaries, Sanji," Law reminded him, focused on his task. "Create your boundaries."

"How do you do it, then?" Sanji then demanded. "How do you not feel anything for these people?"

Law lowered his sword and polishing cloth to his thighs, looking at him.

"Even before that, I didn't care too much for people that I wasn't personally close with," Law stated tightly. "Why should I? You can bet they didn't give a fuck about me, either."

"Well, what was that life like?" Sanji asked him while Jean Bart set out a couple of glasses in front of them. He poured Sanji some ice-cold water, and Law some whiskey. The music was dated, but the tables and counters were full – the ghosts occupying the place were staring at Sanji in silence, and he was doing his best to ignore them. "What made you so cold? Other than…like, I want to know about everything _before_ …everything."

Law thought about his childhood with a grim frown, Jean Bart moving down the counter to attend other orders. Considering who he was talking to, Law had that nagging sensation of feeling as if he were on repeat.

He'd already _had_ this conversation.

He'd already been asked these things.

He'd already looked into that pressing expression and unloaded everything that was uncomfortable and difficult to tell to another person.

But it wasn't that situation at all. This man next to him wasn't _him_.

At the same time, Law had such reservations into spilling his secrets to some stranger that he couldn't quite speak to normally. A part of him wanted to spill – another part of him was afraid to open up yet again.

"People won't treat you with the same consideration, so why waste your time?" Law eventually answered, frustrated with his own answer.

Sanji frowned at him, then turned away. Law wasn't the one(s) Sanji had gotten to know; Law was a man that was essentially a stranger to him, so the comfort and familiarity of a simple conversation that he could have had was impossible.

 _How the hell am I supposed to get to know a person when they don't want to open up_? He thought with frustration. He attributed this to his own conversational skills, irritated with himself. He was quite aware that he himself was a difficult person to talk to.

He fiddled with the napkin Jean Bart had set down beneath his water cup. "Well, she didn't want to accept that her true love had left her when she passed. So…she waited for him. Surely _some_ part of that situation would be something _you_ could identify with."

Law took the glass of whiskey, sipping at it so that the liquor could stop anything that might escape his mouth at that moment. Sanji took the gesture as a polite reaction to something rude he'd said. He slipped away from the stool.

"I've got work tomorrow, so I'm going home," he said, tugging on his bag.

"She was married _four_ times," Law said impatiently, as if trying to make up for the awkward silence, "which one of those four was her true love?"

Sanji paused in adjusting the bag, looking at him incredulously. "And if she were abandoned _four_ times, then I feel for her even more!"

Law watched the mirror behind the counter as Sanji stomped off, slamming the door behind him as he left it. The moment he did, Law's face twisted with frustration. He gripped the glass in one hard so hard that it shattered under the force. Jean Bart watched him patiently as he wiped mugs dry, clicking his tongue. He set aside the towel and mug, then reached for the first aid kit he had tucked underneath the counter. He slid that over, Law scowling at his own bleeding fingers.

"The only differences in this situation and that situation," Jean Bart said calmly as Law's jaw clenched, "is the time change and _his_ passivity. Because in the other situation, you were picking yourself up from the floor for talking to him like that."

"They're not the same person!" Law snapped at him, ripping the box open with his free hand. Bleeding over the packaged supplies, he then glared off at the counter. "He might have his face and his voice…but they're…"

He couldn't quite finish that sentence. Both Sanji of now and the one that had left him ( _that was killed_ ) were both wholly sympathetic towards other people. Both drove him crazy. Both still made Law feel all sorts of _things_. A plethora of confusing things. Law ended up giving a weak shrug, his expression speaking volumes. Jean Bart looked at him with sympathy of his own, but set down a new glass and filled it without ice.

Law had the chance to look over the boxes in the bar's basement that had created the man Sanji had met. The mixture of personalities were people he never knew (because he just stole their gleams), but layered over each other over his body while he was a gleam caught in Sora Vinsmoke's ghost, they'd created an interesting personality that was often forgetful, manic and unlike him. Law was still finding leftovers from that personality in his apartment. Strange foods, colognes, perfumes, weights, clothing, shoe wear, accessories…things that belonged to different people and none of it truly his.

As a result of this mess, he'd decided against the unnecessary layering of gleams his body had helped gather over the years, and get to know himself again. It was a difficult time because not only was he adjusting to a whole new time period, he was essentially learning to cope with the fact that the gleam of a man he'd loved had created a near similar man as the result of Law's own actions.

Gleams were the power of a ghost – the strength of a poltergeist, the voice of a weeping specter, the radiance of an overprotective parent – as a limited medium himself, Law had learned to collect these gleams to layer over himself, rendering him into a near superhuman. But as a result, these layers caused him to adapt small quirks and habits of the ghosts themselves. A naturally quiet, reflective man, if Law took on the gleam of a chatty ghost, he could wind up wearing out his voice speaking upon things he normally wouldn't.

The gleam of his beloved had been given to Sora Vinsmoke when the woman attempted to permanently flee an arranged marriage, along with the four boys she was pregnant with at the time. Law had saved her that cloudy day, giving her some of the layers he'd had remaining over himself. He ended up accidently giving himself away, and the gleam of his beloved bloomed into a child that had become Sanji. It wasn't until Law was able to cut Sora down – his own gleam influencing her actions with keeping her only child alive after she'd murdered the others – that he was able to return to his own body.

His crew helped immensely – they'd been with him long enough to know the circumstances, and had helped manipulate his layered body and Sanji into pursuing Sora to take Law back. Gleams were limited powers – Law was aware of this. They faded naturally after a period of time, and while the one he'd given Sanji was gone, the impression left behind was a broken mirror of the man Law had known.

Sanji _wasn't_ _the waiter_ – but sometimes the things he did and said came so very close to the man Law had loved that it was difficult separating the two.

He brought the new glass to his lips as Penguin noisily examined the mess on the counter. "Caring for others has done nothing for them," Law then answered Jean Bart bitterly, the liquid burning all the way down. "It can get them killed."

"And that's what scares you." Jean Bart nodded with confirmation as Law froze, Penguin taking the time to scold and bandage at the same time. "His caring for others ended _his_ life – you're still carrying the grudge, taking it out on this one. It's unfair, Trafalgar."

Law set the glass down gently, the observation ringing heavy for him. He couldn't manage an answer at that moment, so he shrugged again.

"Apologize."

" _He_ should!" Law snapped at Jean Bart as Penguin finished bandaging his hand. " _He_ should be apologizing to _me_!"

Penguin glanced at him, then at Jean Bart with a heavy roll of his eyes.

Law examined the bandaging on his fingers. The waiter had chosen to give his life for others ( _for Sora, before she was pregnant, in a shooting that she had arranged to rid herself of a husband she didn't want – these were a ghost's confessions_ ) without any consideration to what it would do to Law. Law did feel helpless anger at the abandonment, but…he also recognized he was being given a second chance.

 _Was it?_ he couldn't help but wonder for the countless time.

' _I'll make my way back to you_ …' the waiter had promised him. Law couldn't remember his voice, so it was his own that reflected these words back to him – it had been that long of a time. Law couldn't remember the sound of the waiter's laugh, couldn't remember the sound of an ' _I love you_ ' – but Law's skin shivered and his thoughts scattered whenever Sanji spoke words that were too closely aligned with words that the waiter _could have_ said.

He finished his drink, running his bandaged fingers through his hair before adjusting his hat. He had resolved to make an apology for the courtesy of the matter – not that he could feel it just yet. Shachi pushed over Penguin to catch their attention.

"Payment received in full!" he reported cheerfully, waving his laptop around. "Also, we got hit with another job outside of town. Let's hit the meeting room. This one will be as big as the church incident."

: :

At his quiet corner apartment, Sanji had already dressed for bed, but his thoughts were moving in a constant whirl that burned as hot as that woman's feelings. He pulled his journal to his lap, writing down what happened that day – adding in some angry venting about Law's attitude. The quiet stillness of the place was interruptive, and he looked up from an underlined rant, chin on palm.

Not that he was angry at Law – just frustrated with the man for visibly fighting an impossible battle, and at himself for not being a great conversationalist. Sanji knew Law was having trouble accepting him as a different person, so it wasn't as if he could be mad at him. _Impossible_. He was his own person.

Not that Sanji had any weight with this man – they were strangers. Sanji knew Law's body, but didn't know the soul. Whoever those were that he'd fallen for – well, they were gone. Sanji wondered if they'd recognize him if Law chose to layer himself again. Wouldn't that make things awkward?

He wrote that down, feeling his anger sweep away. _This was a weird, supernatural drama_ , he supposed. He tucked the pen inside and put the journal away.

It had been some months since Law had become himself. While the man chose to sulk in silence, it wasn't as if Law faded away into the shadows. He was there – sometimes popping up at Sanji's restaurant, sometimes unexpectedly around the corner, sometimes on Sanji's phone with clumsy, invasive questions; but the man hadn't abandoned him.

Sanji was grateful for that.

There were feelings there. Unmistakable ones that couldn't be excused for something else. It was present in both of them. But both of them were stubborn, and Sanji wasn't sure who was more. He knew himself as prickly and abrasive, and Law was standoffish, but sometimes they looked at each other too long and sometimes words weren't needed. Sanji was careful to withhold a natural affection he'd given to the other man, but sometimes he'd catch himself touching the small of Law's back in a crowded place or unconsciously clinging to his shirt in a tense situation. He couldn't remember when Law last touched him in any way.

 _Could he_? Sanji had to wonder with a wince. _Not that I invite it, anyway_ … _what are we doing?_

Maybe there was still a part of him that wasn't entirely him – maybe it was the other guy that recognized Law regardless and held onto him with hands that Sanji couldn't see. But Sanji couldn't pretend his own feelings away and excuse them for something else when he was fully aware of them.

His own feelings were…complicated. He yearned for what had been, physically admired the other man – those stiff clothes fit just right! – and couldn't help himself with inhaling deeply if they were too close, but maybe these physical reactions were just… _normal_. He was a lonely man – maybe his feelings were at a standstill, but his physical cravings weren't.

He looked around himself. He'd put effort into changing the place because it had reminded Law of his old life and because it wasn't really Sanji's taste in the first place. New furniture, new paint, new curtains, new decorations - a different attitude. Instead of muted colors and retro features, everything was bright and modern. It was his own burgeoning taste, and Sanji was a little startled at how exciting it felt – he himself felt like he had been sleeping for some time, as well.

Was his mother's passing that much of a release ( _relief_ ) for him? Most of his life felt like he'd been caught in some suffocating fog, and it felt like he was finally opening his eyes.

Sanji had put away the things the old Law had left behind, packaging them in tubs and pushed away into the attic space; it almost felt like he'd hidden away an ex's reminders. An awkward feeling, because that ex was still in his space.

His phone vibrated atop of his nightstand, causing him a glance over.

 _15 min_.

Furrowing his brow with curiosity and giving a simple shake of his head, Sanji mused that even Law's texts were that belonging to an old man. The older man preferred to talk person to person, finding it difficult to text, while Sanji found it difficult to talk on the phone. Despite his heavy mood, his mouth twitched upon a small remembrance.

' _Give me your phone_ ,' he'd demanded one day, when Law was frustrated with the device. Sanji had been glad that the man still had it – after all, it had some pretty incriminating things on it. He was positive Shachi and Penguin were teaching him how to use it, but he hoped against hope that they hadn't snooped through it themselves.

Sanji had found what he was looking for that day, face and neck blazing with mortification as Law stood stiffly next to him; arms crossed and face displaying his bewilderment to Sanji's reactions.

'I'm going to delete a few things on this,' he'd mumbled in response, horrified at what he found. The other Law(s) had given away casual evidence that he'd recorded some of their nighttime moments, and Sanji had just found four other videos.

'Why?' Law had asked, attempting to look over Sanji's hands before Sanji tilted the screen against his own chest with a mortified look. 'What is it?'

'The other…you,' Sanji said slowly, 'had recorded… _us_.'

'Recorded us…?'

Sanji told him with a frank stare, and he had the mixture of renewed humiliation and amusement when the older man's face bloomed with his own collection of horror. Seeing his reaction caused a bit of teasing to leave him before he could overthink it.

'Or you can keep them and watch them for…I don't know…curiosity purposes…'

'That type of shit is personal!'

'Listen here, you old relic, you can pretty much put anything on your smartphones. These are… _some_ of these I remember from the title screen alone, and they're…probably the more… _tamer_ ones,' Sanji had said, sneaking a curious look at him.

'Get rid of them.'

Sanji was both relieved and disappointed to hear that. So he fiddled with the phone for a few minutes and handed it back, mouth working from side to side. He flushed with renewed embarrassment as the teasing seemed to backfire without the reaction he'd hoped to see. Law had looked at his own phone with distrust. But his ears and neck were red, pulsing with color and he couldn't quite make any sort of eye contact with Sanji at all.

Because of that, Sanji looked at the videos he'd sent himself before deleting them from Law's phone. He confessed to watching them from time to time – nights were lonely, after all. He kept telling himself he'd delete them "later". His feelings were always chaotic afterward. Did he really miss the man or just what they had? Seeing the loose inhibitions of the other one and being unable to see them as given by this one seemed farfetched. Like having sex with a stranger.

He set his things aside, pulled on the white zip up sweater over his loose t-shirt and flannel shorts, then went to unlock the front door. He was busy at the stove making coffee and watching the news on his phone when Law knocked once and walked in. The older man always seemed to wear a look of relief when he glanced around, shutting the door behind him.

"That woman should be removed," Law muttered in greeting, referring to the elevator rider that rode with a bag of groceries against her chest and a gruesome knife injury leaking blood on the floor. She lectured them both about their "sins" every time they saw her. "No one will miss her."

"That's up to you and the security team watching you swing your sword around in an empty elevator," Sanji murmured in response, drawing out a cup from the nearby hangar and piling a tray with fresh coffee and sugar. He shoved his phone into his sweater pocket, and brought the tray to the table as Law scowled, shrugging his sword from his shoulder and setting it aside. Once settled in one of the dining room chairs, Law waited for Sanji to serve him coffee.

He said, "Shachi found us a job. Like the church one."

Sanji's hand rattled ever so slightly as he set the sugar down onto the table, smoothly taking a seat opposite him. His ears rang in remembrance of the church incident.

The demonic creature's screams still rang with a numbing echo in his thoughts. It was the first time he'd encountered something that was never human in the first place; its words were a language that was frightening with its foreign placement and its intentions to harm were obvious before it could actually take place. It had spewed lightening from its ghastly, over muscled body and bore teeth that smelled of rotting bodies, eyes sometimes still visible in the dark if Sanji thought about it. The trio had run into things like this before – their remembrances of the incident were fleeting comments and complaints that they weren't paid like they were used to.

"… 'Us'?" Sanji murmured with heavy uncertainty.

"Is this not something you want to do?"

"I wasn't very useful last time," Sanji stated incredulously. "The stuff it was saying were things I'd never heard before."

"It was in possession of the priest – you had heard it first. We would've never known."

Sanji recalled that talking to an old, nervous priest revealed multiple voices from one mouth. He'd thought it odd until he told Law, who confronted the hiding demon. The priest himself had passed upon revelation because of the amount of strength the demon was sucking from him, lingering behind long after the battle. He didn't understand what had happened to him, and couldn't cross over. But he loved the place and its occupants - Sanji had quietly let him go without alerting the others, knowing that this ghost couldn't possibly cause any harm.

"However did you all get anything done without me around to point it out for you?" Sanji asked him, almost sarcastically.

"This one seems like a similar event," Law continued, sipping at his coffee. "A haunted forest. A trip out from the city sounds like a necessary vacation."

It didn't to Sanji. He preferred the city ghosts – from the stories Penguin and Shachi sometimes shared, it seemed that the world was capable of producing things other than traditional human ghosts. The demon from the church was Sanji's first eye opener in that there _were_ things that existed purely out of malevolence and fairy tales.

" _How_ haunted?" he questioned with some skeptical wavering.

"I'm sure it's not that bad," Law said with assuring tone, his face stiff.

Reaching out, Sanji removed the hat from his head and set it onto the table, Law frowning deeply at the removal of his comfort item.

"You wanna bald faster? That's how you go bald," Sanji lectured him before saying, "Now, remember, this whole ghost hunting thing is entirely new for me. You've seen shit I never thought was real, so…in terms of me being a rookie, how scary is it?"

Law set his coffee down, exhaling. "Well, it's popular for…murders and suicides. It's featured almost monthly on most ghost hunting sites and bodies usually aren't discovered in time. One was pulled recently – a murder from the twenties. It's remarkable how far along science has come to in regards to identifying persons that couldn't be identified due to the decay."

Sanji rolled that idea around in his head for a few moments. He'd seen his fair share of murders and suicide victims. It would be their mixture of feelings he'd have to protect himself from.

Law glanced at him cautiously, adding, "And other entities. Forest spirits, sprites, trolls, demons…those sorts of things."

"You guys take a lot of pictures and have a good time."

"We're looking for one voice in particular, and unless they approach me – "

"You can't hear them. I know, _I know_ \- !"

"We will be carting along a supply of extra gleams," Law continued over Sanji's exasperated complaints. He noticed the other man falling silent. Tapping at the table with one finger, Law asked, "Will there be a problem with that?"

Crossing his arms over his chest, Sanji stared at him, wondering if there would be.

Law reached for the comfort of his hat, remembered it was on the table, and instead focused upon his coffee cup. His lips pulled into a pensive frown as he avoided making any sort of eye contact with the other man. He entwined his fingers while Sanji watched him stubbornly.

The silence was thick between them, the refrigerator humming quietly from the kitchen. To make peace, Sanji said, "What sort of situation is it?"

Gathering himself, Law answered, "This man was rumored to be responsible for several deaths. He'd taken those secrets with him when he walked into that forest and supposedly disposed of himself. Only…we don't know where. His vehicle and his personal belongings, along with a handwritten note detailing his exploits are the only indication that he's there. There was evidence he'd done away with himself. Of course, his body was not recovered. If you can…somehow find him…I can get the details of where his other victims are."

"A serial killer?"

"Yes. He took pride in his scenes. He's the main suspect in many of them. He left behind too much evidence for anyone to think differently."

"So…just pure evil…?"

"Yes. Being that you can see and communicate with all of them, surely this won't be that hard. There is another interesting factor," Law then added while Sanji wore an expression of distaste, re-thinking his agreeability, "he has an animal."

"Oh? A puppy?"

"…Something like that." Law reached into his jacket pocket, withdrawing his phone. After a few touches, he showed Sanji the screen. A shadowy creature with white beads for eyes and sharp canines stood out against the backdrop of trees at the dead of night. It was bigger than a bison – with human hands for its front paws.

"Those kinds of things exist?" Sanji asked incredulously, unable to believe that what he was seeing wasn't doctored in any way. "You got this off the internet, someone could have excellent photoshopping skills."

"If that's what makes you feel better about the situation," Law said, swiping to the side to show a mug shot of a man looking dead into the camera. "Here _he_ is."

He swiped again to show an old photograph of the man posing next to a German Shepard that nearly resembled the shadowy creature in the previous photograph. Due to its size and shape, Sanji had no doubts of the animal's existence, now. "We can leave on Monday. It's a twelve hour drive. The five of us."

Sanji sighed noisily.

"The rooms are already booked. It's just us waiting on your confirmation. In case you were wondering," Law continued, picking up his phone, "I'd already spoken to your boss regarding a vacation. He approves of it. You never mentioned they were intending on going out of business within the month."

Sanji looked at him, wondering how to accept this invasion of his privacy. Wondering if it were acceptable between friends, or…

He exhaled. "Economy is slow. People find it difficult to eat out, nowadays."

"The inheritance money…?"

"From my mother is fine. I own the apartment due to half of it. I can sell some of this shit if I need to, but I'm confident I can find another job. Father didn't leave me with anything – his money went to various charities instead."

Law locked his phone and returned it to his jacket. He finally looked across the table at Sanji. "We can ask Robin to go with us. She has, before."

At the mention of the woman with a gunshot wound to the forehead, Sanji couldn't imagine the woman venturing out from the city boundaries. She was a ghost that roamed forever on the streets, confident and secure in her surroundings.

"In a box?" he asked skeptically.

"I have nothing of her to keep her. It's her choice. But she rode along in Shachi for that trip. That was…interesting…"

Still wearing a skeptical expression, Sanji nodded to show he was hearing. He fiddled with the edge of the table while Law watched him, struggling to come up with something other than a task to speak of. Law wondered what sort of subjects this quietly angry man spoke of with his "other" self ( _selves_ ). Looking around the redecorated place, he lightly jiggled his knees.

"Have you had dinner yet?" he then asked clumsily.

"No, I was actually in bed when you came over."

"I could eat."

"Then go eat."

"I don't want to go alone," Law stressed.

"I have work in the morning, it's late – "

"Take out."

"Is this one of those sleepless things again?" Sanji asked him with concern. "I have some of that melatonin stuff – "

"…Home doesn't sound appealing at the moment."

"What would you like to talk about?" Sanji then asked him. He served himself some coffee, saying goodbye to getting any sleep. Law was capable of keeping him up for hours. "The last time you were here, you were uncomfortably ruffled by…what was it…ah, the freedom of expressions."

"Not that I haven't seen everything," Law said hurriedly, "it's just that the times have changed to where it's…not considered scandalous to be…obvious."

"About what? Moods? Secret kinks? Secretly recorded videos on your phone?"

"Everyone is so…open and willing to put themselves out there for some amounts of attention – why not keep it to themselves? Why share with the world what's troubling one? Why not just share it with someone close through verbal interaction?"

"Ah, but this isn't a new concept. People have been sharing their personal pains with the world since the day they picked up a pen. Be it a fountain pen or stone carvings. Why is it any different, being that it's the internet and pictures are included?"

Law considered this, wearing a troubled expression. But he nodded to agree, saying, "I just think that if it's personal, keep it personal."

"What brought this subject up?"

"One of the crew introduced me to Penguin's twitter account."

Sanji almost choked on his drink, catching himself with a cough and a hand over an amused smile. Law watched him with seeming impatience. "I have a feeling you weren't expecting that of him," Sanji then said, coughing. "But how is it wrong? He does it to fit in. And considering the amount of followers that he has, people identify with him. That's why everyone reaches out. To be identified."

"He wasn't always a man that shared his every thought with everyone. The gleams he was given are…talkative. Gleams work in limited ways, and what those guys stored themselves with are…a quarter of what I wear," Law explained. "Whomever those inside of him draws out the other aspects of Penguin's personality that I am not…familiar with."

"I'm sure he wasn't that bad of a person in the first place – "

"When I first met him, he was a rabble rouser that started fights with anyone that looked at him funny. He had no qualms expressing his anger with his fists."

Sanji thought of the man's snarky way of confrontation. "And that's different from him now…?"

"Think Eustess. Only…slightly less."

Sanji thought of the Scottish ghost, whose love of the sea was his only treasured item. Eustess' anger had helped him confront his mother, something Sanji couldn't do on his own. As expressive as Eustess was, picturing Penguin similarly was hard to do.

"One of his followers was the one to suggest this vacation. Being that they're…ghost hunters themselves."

"Tell me about this group."

"I'm not interested in other groups."

"What _are_ you interested in?"

Law closed his mouth, furrowing his brow. As his eyes jetted from direction to direction, Sanji sipped at his coffee. Minutes passed by in silence, Sanji lifting a curled eyebrow to determine the older man's mood. Considering the stretch of silence, Sanji wondered if the man was hesitating on unlocking parts of himself to Sanji.

Which vaguely hurt because…

But then again, they were still strangers.

 _Two years_ , he thought sullenly, setting his cup down on the table. _Two and a half years_ …!

"It's hard to describe right now," Law then muttered, looking troubled. "Because I am…unsure of my interests as my own. Times keep changing, so my mind keeps changing."

"Fickle."

Law exhaled through his nose, picking up his coffee cup.

Brushing his hair from his glasses, Sanji commented lightly, "Being a time traveler must be damaging to an older man such as yourself. Constantly being forced to see what the kids are up to and what their interests are – "

"I was born in the forties." Law stopped himself short, Sanji looking at him with a start. It was the first he'd heard of it.

He exhaled heavily. "Damn, you are _old_ \- !"

"I don't look like it, right?"

Chuckling, Sanji answered, "The other one worried about that, too. His age. It must be part of your own trait - "

" _Their_ ages, that person wasn't me - !" Law cut himself off with frustration, and Sanji watched him cautiously. It drove a spike of panic through him as Law rose from his seat, pushing away from the table. "I'm going home."

"Why are you so sensitive about that sort of thing? I was only joking -"

"Because you constantly remind me of being a person I'm not."

"And you keep holding my existence against me, by being disappointed that I'm not _him_ , so _what the fuck_?" Sanji started, rising from his chair and snapping at him.

"You don't have to yell, I'm standing _right here_ – "

"Listen – are you constantly in my space because of an obligation, or because you think you still see him in me?"

Confronted by the question, Law felt his jaw tighten. Sanji was staring holes into him, braced against the table that separated them, and he could feel his own chest expand with answers that would hurt.

His stubborn silence caused Sanji to exhale shakily, taking his seat with careful movement.

"It's okay," he then said unsteadily, reaching out to rearrange the condiments on the table. "I know. I'm here, too, I…I'm clinging, too, because I…it's difficult to love me, and I'm just clinging to one that clumsily loved me, too."

Law looked at him with remorse.

Sanji then set his hands onto the top of the table, watching them shake. He swallowed tightly, looking at Law. "I'm sorry. That was extremely manipulative to say. My words were something my mother would have used, just now."

After a few moments, Law mumbled, "But those were your feelings."

"They're my feelings, but expressing them out loud to you – it's cruel. Because it obligates you to feel like you should have some responsibility for them."

"What other thoughts do you keep from me?"

Sanji realized he was patting his jacket for the weight of his phone – finding it tucked within the pocket like a painful secret. "…Do we want to have that conversation?"

When Law didn't answer fast enough, Sanji murmured, "How about you go on that trip without me? Let's, uh…I think we're just hurting ourselves by orbiting each other like this. Neither of us is healing."

The older man felt a pang of hurt in his chest that made it ache, but his thoughts grabbed and held onto the suggestion. Reaching to grab his sword case, he nodded without looking at the other man that watched him leave in silence.

In the still silence of his apartment, Sanji inhaled and exhaled shakily.

 _Why is love so fucking cruel_? He wondered with bewilderment, eyes burning dangerously.


	2. Chapter 2

**2: I Don't Think You Know Him**

* * *

Because he was forced into the vacation by an apologetic manager, Sanji had too much time on his hands. The day of the trip came and went, and his phone was silent. He worried about the things he said, and the things he should have – but the night was over and time continued to move on with the weight of their troubles weighing in his gut. He spent most of the morning sitting at the table, regretting speaking out at all.

 _I could say shit so much easier to the other one_ , he thought, _but this one is harder because he's so on guard and walled over. I get it. I understand why_.

Once again, he was questioning his relationship with the man, and that felt familiar. It was the only thing that felt familiar. But he still wondered if Law's company was an obligation due to his involvement with the removal of the Vinsmokes – the man had feelings. Law had plenty of feelings, and Sanji could see them being held back. But he didn't know what they were or what the man was thinking.

 _Era differences_ , Sanji supposed with a heavy frown. Law grew up in times where men locked in their feelings – discussing them wasn't an option. Sanji was sure of this theory – he'd seen plenty of the movies Law had mentioned seeing lately, and Sanji had watched them and understood why Law wasn't as chatty as his other self ( _selves_ ). The age gap – laughable, because Sanji was just a few years younger.

He wondered what his other self had done to capture the older man's eternal worship. Was the waiter like him? Or someone braver, someone more persistent and confident? Sanji didn't know that other man – Law never mentioned his personality or aspects, but he sometimes looked at Sanji now like he'd been struck.

 _This can't work_ , Sanji thought morosely. Realizing he was getting no where with his thoughts, he left the table. A brief linger at the window overlooking the city block, Sanji caught himself looking towards the northwest – he could see the church's towers, and could envision the cemetery just beyond that.

He got ready for the day with a shower and a quick tug on his hair into a ponytail. He then pulled on his noise-cancelling headphones and left his apartment. The city was bright and alive with activity – allowing for lesser clothes and lighter material. The costly set of headphones allowed him to ignore the calls of ghosts on the street. Sanji made his way to the cemetery by bus and foot, and found his father's headstone. Flowers left behind were withered and dry, crumbling in the light breeze. He wondered who had thought so fondly of Judge. He then found his siblings and his mother's gravesites, lingering over them in silence. There was a funeral procession nearby, and he avoided looking in that direction to avoid making any sort of eye contact with ghosts that might be looking at him.

Hands tucked into his jeans' pockets, Sanji then started looking for the name that had become his. It took over an hour of looking for his own name, but once he found the headstone, he felt a sense of frozen weight settle over his shoulders and chest. He stared down at the name and dates listed on the simple slab.

 _Blackleg sounds so much cooler than Vinsmoke_ , he reflected bitterly, mouth twisted. He noticed the faded package of cigarettes tucked against the broadside, and crouched for a closer look. He had never felt the urge to smoke in his life, but this man had. _Would it have been an easier death to endure if he'd died of lung cancer than under the spray of bullets_?

It took him a few moments to realize he wasn't alone, whirling around while pulling the headphones down to see Robin as she closed her umbrella with a fluff. The yards of material of her dress, flowing around her hips and flaring up to her shoulder pads seemed more majestic during the day – a woman with a permanent bloom of gunpowder and blood within her forehead, Robin was a ghost that walked without fear on the streets. She was also a welcomed friend.

"Torturing yourself early, today?" she asked him, noting the headstone.

Words ran through Sanji's mind, deciding on various responses and finding them all pitiful. Unlikeable. _We're still seeing other people_ , Sanji thought, not daring to say the words aloud. He shrugged.

Robin nodded. "I see. The pain and the weight of expectations must have been suffocating enough for you to adventure out."

Sanji wondered if she were a mind reader – but Robin could read the emotions that flitted over his facial expressions, and felt satisfied with her guess.

"It's not fair," Sanji murmured uncomfortably. "I catch myself saying such… _manipulative_ things and it's…I'm _forcing_ him to look at me, Robin, and it's not _me_ he's seeing. Then I think, _Why would he_? This one here," he gestured at the headstone, "Law speaks of him so highly with just his face, and I'm…I'm nowhere near the type of person that creates those expressions."

"It's not your fault – "

"It's not, but…I'm disappointing," Sanji added with frustration, looking down at himself. He wore a pair of ripped jeans over his white Vans, a simple t-shirt over that. He was gaining weight slowly, struggling to appease Zeff's last wish, but it wasn't an easy process. His frizzy hair was still managed in a sloppy ponytail, and his undercut had been shorn for the warming weather. He gave it a sporadic rub before adjusting his glasses. "I think of myself the way my family thinks – _thought_ of me, and I just can't compare to a person like that. Someone who made that man mourn and miss…"

He sat slowly near the cement border of the gravesite, plucking at the grass with a heavy frown while Robin watched him.

Robin rested her umbrella against her shoulder. "What are you looking for from this, Sanji?"

Shielding his eyes from the sun, he looked up at her, blinking from behind the lenses of his glasses. He rolled the question around in his mind for a few moments, folding his hands to clutch between his knees. _Someone to give a fuck about_ me _,_ he thought to himself. He didn't dare say it out loud, fearing it was a selfish answer. He answered with another idle shrug.

Robin gave him a thin smile, turning away with an exhale of her own. "You make this difficult, child," she said low, facing the sun. "Do you know how long it's been since my life was taken from me?"

"Judging by your dress…? I dunno, a century?"

"Hmm. And here you are, at the end of another, forcing feelings I hadn't felt in a very long time." Robin turned to look at him as he looked confused. "I had thought that this…continued dance between you both wouldn't continue for this long, considering the differences, but here you both are. I've known that man longer than I've known you, and the only hope I can give you is that he is a very indecisive one. It must be his sign."

Sanji gave her a look that suggested he didn't understand. Robin reached up with gloved hands to adjust the collar of her blood splattered dress.

"Why don't you and I take a trip elsewhere to clear our heads?"

"You can do that? Oh, I don't…I don't drive," Sanji reminded her with some embarrassment. Robin began walking away, skirts rustling with her movement. Sanji glanced back at the headstone he was leaving behind, then followed after her.

"We can take a train, and you can hail a taxi, or Uber, to our final destination," she said. "Surely that's not a problem."

"You have a destination in mind?"

"I do. I don't know if it's still there, but it'll be a nice break from the system here," she murmured, leading them deeper into the cemetery.

Sanji noticed that most of the markers here were faded and old. He reached up to fiddle with his headphones, hearing a gently rising murmur from ghosts that surrounded them. She ventured up to a marker that was a simple metal engraving with numbers and a faded symbol. Surrounded by similar markers, Sanji thought that this was a mass graveyard – beyond the science of the times that could have the patience to identify and name those dead under large circumstances. She crouched, and retrieved something from the dirt just below the marker – it took Sanji a few moments to see it, but Robin had just retrieved a lump of dull metal. He took it from her fingertips with a curious look.

"Take this with you," she said. "It belongs to me."

"…Is this…?" Sanji looked at her with shock, then looked back at the item he had in hand. "Is this the _bullet_ that killed you?"

"Neat, isn't it?" Robin smiled at him as he examined it incredulously. "This will allow me to travel with you."

"This is…your most _treasured_ item?" Sanji asked skeptically.

"It is. The one I loved killed me with it. But that was long ago," Robin then said as Sanji's eyes widened with shock, causing him to almost drop it as she began walking away from the site, "and the feelings are long gone. I can only talk of them in passing, like a situation that was never mine to begin with. But it allows me to remember my death – it allows me to remember the feelings attached to it. Therefore, it is my most treasured item."

"It should be nice to get away for awhile," Robin conceded. "Maybe some travel will allow you to see things you couldn't see before. Clear your head. Allow you to see that there is a bigger world than this one you've grown up in."

"Yeah, but there's more ghosts…"

"True."

Robin faded away as she walked, and Sanji paused in mid-step, frowning over the area where she'd disappeared. He clutched the bullet in one hand, the other shifting his headphones up and over his head to block out the whispers. He felt reluctant to go anywhere. He was too comfortable here.

But maybe this was what he needed.

: :

The falling rain made Law nostalgic. Lightning flashed outside, momentarily causing the parking lot and wooded area enough light for him to see the needles matted on the ground. He rested his forehead against the pane, watching his breath fog up the glass. He could hear the others' behind him, talking excitedly about the day's hunt, but his mind was so far away.

It was back in the city, lingering over a dinner table with condiments that didn't look as if they were used.

 _I am me, he is_ not, he thought with despondence. _How difficult is it to separate the two_?

Law understood he wasn't that interesting of a person. He wasn't full of humor, he didn't think too much of today's standards – he still didn't understand what memes were. But he appreciated a good cup of coffee and he liked the digitally remastered masterpieces he could watch on demand. He wasn't stuck in his ways – _open to learn_ – but he admitted feeling overwhelmed when it became too much. He preferred to dress stiffly, but he had a sense of sass to him as well that was subtle. True, he was an "old man" but he was still twenty-six.

He was shocked at how much younger his counterparts seemed these days.

He had such frustration inside of him whenever Sanji mistook him for that other him (the others?). Because while they took on his body and created a somewhat sloppy persona, retaining little of his natural qualities, they weren't _him_. Couldn't Law be seen for himself, as he is now? Law felt frustrated and upset that even as he tried to be the person he truly was, Sanji didn't see him. The younger man was looking for the one that intruded upon his life, and seemed unsatisfied when he couldn't find him( _them_ ). So it felt to Law that Sanji was rejecting him for something shinier.

Law wanted to be seen as him. _Same as him_ , he thought with a troubled frown.

 _Have I lived too long_?

It felt like an obligation to continue intruding onto Sanji's space – Law did feel responsible for the circumstances surrounding the kid – no, _man_ – because he was the one that gave Sanji life. If he hadn't been there that day Sora Vinsmoke had tried to drown herself and her kids, then surely Sanji wouldn't be here today. So it _was_ his responsibility.

He also admitted that he had lingering, leftover feelings, but he couldn't sort those out. He accepted his beloved's death – already bore the weight of the waiter's passing. All he had left was his grief, but that was lighter, now, because of time and acceptance. But the feelings he had were different.

He was a lonely man. He craved touch, but he couldn't ask for it. He was trapped in a time where the touch of another man was forbidden. He was stunned at how open it was, now. Celebrated, even. But he couldn't quite accept that, not with his background. But whenever Sanji touched him– those little gestures of weight against Law's back, the feel of his crowding (like he was seeking Law's shelter), the weight of his stare when he watched Law speak – those things Law liked. But the words couldn't leave him to express so. The waiter had taken from him privately whatever fit his bossy whim, and those moments were different from this one.

Like finding comforts in a stranger that was comparable to an ex. _Or something_. They had the same face and features, the same coloring – but while one was bright and strong, the other pulled at other senses Law didn't think he had. Drew out different feelings he couldn't imagine having with the other one. Positive, negative…? They were both frightening and interesting and he wasn't sure how deal with either.

He was attracted because Sanji was a product of modern times, and he wore his clothes in a way that Law couldn't see back then, and there were times where Law wondered how it would feel to touch the different lengths on the blonde's head. Sometimes Sanji smelled like the restaurant he worked at, and sometimes he smelled like coffee and wheat toast (an odd combination – Law didn't understand how the scents involved food when he rarely saw the man eat); sometimes Sanji said things that were both inviting and comforting in a way Law needed, and Law himself was a lonely man in need of physical comforts, too.

He thought about those videos a lot. He'd spent time trying to find traces of things that Sanji had deleted, interested about the content. But it made him feel guilty to acknowledge that part of himself. Like seeing tapes involving neighbors, friends – the guilt would cause his stomach to clench, but his interest to perk. Oh, the _guilt_ …!

Product of his times, he supposed.

 _Come back_ , he found himself thinking. _Come back and tell me how to feel. If this is okay_.

"Are you that determined to be electrocuted?" Shachi asked him, startling him out of his thoughts. Law pushed away from the window, fixing his hair. He spied his hat sitting nearby, but he resisted reaching for it.

' _Wanna go bald? That's how you go bald_ ,' he heard Sanji tell him crankily. Law thought that it sometimes echoed with the waiter's voice, but he was sure _his_ voice was different from Sanji's. Still present with tinges of bossiness that Law couldn't help but be grateful for.

"You're going to be struck down by the hand of God if you continue sitting there. Move away from the window."

"I'm ruminating over my thoughts," Law mumbled bitterly, "which are mine to keep. Which are mine to hold for myself – "

"Oh, come off it!" Penguin complained, lowering his phone. "So you now know my thoughts on Twitter! Big deal!"

Clicking his tongue, Law glared outside once more.

"Besides, it's how we got this gig," Penguin went on, gesturing at the television. "While it might not be much, this place is going to require sectional investigation. Without that brat here, we don't even know where the guy is."

"Why didn't he want to come?" Shachi then asked as Jean Bart opened a beer.

"Think about it, idiots. Someone that sees and hears ghosts, being treated to their torment and pain while they took their own lives? It's common sense that he wouldn't," Law snapped at them. "He's so fucking sensitive, he can't separate their lives from his…"

Penguin and Shachi exchanged looks with Jean Bart.

" _Someone's_ sensitive, but it can't just be Sanji," Penguin mused in a whisper, but loud enough for Law to hear. His scowl turned bitter.

"Well, when you put it like that, it's understandable," Jean Bart interjected before any of them could launch into any attacks. "We were selfish as a group to assume that it was okay. For as long as we had known him, we've learned that he does feel more for a situation than any of us do. We'd lost our feelings a long time ago."

"More like…they're stuck in a roundabout," Penguin corrected thoughtfully.

"And none of us knows how to yield," Shachi added.

"What's…what's a roundabout?" Law asked stiffly, furrowing his brow.

"But Law's feelings at the moment are a concern," Jean Bart continued, finishing off his beer and neatly adding it to the tower nearby. "Because we've captured him on film and on audio ignoring the voices that approached him."

"They did?" Law replied with confusion, pulling his chair closer to them.

"At hour two and fifteen seconds, and hour three and forty-five seconds, two different individuals asked you if you can hear them," Shachi reported, pulling his laptop over his lap while Penguin rummaged into the cooler for a new can of beer. "You responded to neither on audio."

"I…probably had a lot on my mind," Law confessed with a grimace. Shachi tutted him.

"BUT our saving grace is the distant sound of a dog barking," Penguin said, pulling on his headset and directing Shachi to the audio scrolling bar. "There is a dog barking somewhere in all our mileage. Not too close, not too far."

"It could be an intelligent apparition, or just an animal abandoned by a suicidal owner and left to fend for itself," Law murmured, listening to the snippet of their conversation. Sure enough, there was a dog's barking that seemed to lack a true direction – as if echoing off from the trees. He attuned himself to the sound. "It's a big dog."

"It's a _big_ dog," Penguin agreed gravely. "Definitely with teeth."

"Remember that time I got bit by one?" Shachi asked with concern. "Look! I've got goosebumps!"

"If it were the dog in question, then the dog surely wasn't without its master," Law murmured. "He was probably watching us as well."

"Sanji would've really come in handy. Useless bastard," Penguin muttered to himself.

Law listened to the vague sounds of the dog barking once more, then glanced outside. He exhaled low, rising from the chair. "This rain and lightning don't seem that bad. Jean Bart."

Shachi closed his laptop with a gasp. "You are going to be struck by lightning and you will _die_!"

"I don't think any of our equipment is prepared for that," Penguin warned Law as he rose from his chair, setting his beer aside as Jean Bart left this room to the adjoining one. "But take one of the recorders with you, at least."

"Die of _pneumonia_! Bronchitis! Hyperthermia! By God, you're going to drown and get electrocuted!"

"I won't venture in far," Law said assuredly, picking up his hat. "Maybe just to the first mile marker. I'll need a flashlight. You all can either wait in the vehicle or here. It's advisable."

"I ain't going out there."

"A broken foot from getting caught in a tree root you won't see until the last second! A snakebite! A mugging! Being sniped by a psychopath targeting camping sights! A mountain lion attack!"

Law and Penguin looked over at Shachi with exasperation, the man Googling all the mishaps that could happen to an individual while taking a midnight stroll through a forest during a rain storm. He looked at them and closed the notebook once again.

"Take some doggie treats," Shachi then suggested lightly. "He's probably hungry."

Law lingered over the question he had peeking out from the depths of the misery he had been thinking over. Clearing his throat, he asked, "Don't you all get tired of all the layers you're using?"

The three of them looked at him with question. Jean Bart opened another can.

"I removed mine," he confessed lightly. "Some time ago."

"I got used to the chaos," Penguin said with a light shrug. "Yeah, maybe it's not what you were going through, but I'm attached to mine."

Adjusting his glasses, Shachi said, "I put away a couple. Just using two of them, now. I don't know, man, I feel like I can adjust better using them."

"Watching you go through your shit gets me thinking I'm not ready to face it alone," Penguin added to Law. "I mean…I wasn't that great of a person. But now, I feel like I can be okay."

"Why don't you try it?" Law suggested. "Just…be yourselves."

"But you're so fucking _sad_ all the time," Penguin said with a grimace. "And shocked and awed by all the things we're already comfortable with, and – like, I know I'll freak out."

"Like watching a dude that's lived in the senior center all his life suddenly catch sight of hentai posters and realizing that they're not just cartoons," Shachi added on an uncomfortable whisper.

Penguin ignored Law's puzzled expression towards the redhead and said, "Besides, man, I just…"

"Like addicts excusing their habits," Law scoffed, causing the pair of them to stand up with outrage, Jean Bart finishing off his beer.

"Coming from the one that introduced them to it," he commented lightly, Law scowling at him while the pair brightened with the siding. "You're encouraging them to take a step you yourself are having problems with. Maybe if you had more confidence in what you're doing, it'd give them some security. They're babies, Trafalgar. Slow steps with strong hands…"

"We're not _babies_!" the pair shouted at Jean Bart with outrage.

"I am offended," Shachi said, touching his chest while Penguin scowled, crossing his arms tightly over his chest. "But that's the right concept to use, JB."

"Why are you suggesting this?" Jean Bart then asked Law, gesturing with his empty can. "What's on your mind?"

Law exhaled shortly. "My adjustments to this time period, to….everything. It's troublesome. And it's because I've been sheltered under the weight of my misplaced confidence. The lack of my own strength is…it's enough to feel that both of your reasons are valid."

"I mean, we grew up in times where some of this shit was unheard of," Penguin said. "So to be introduced to it like…after such a long period of this fake confidence, it's…scary."

"We've all relied so much on our personas that are a combination of other people," Law said slowly, "that we forgot who we truly are. In the end, would you recognize yourself?"

The three of them looked at him with grim looks before Penguin winced.

"Alright, I confess," he said with a clap of his hands, "I got so used to the other you that this one just automatically depresses me."

" _Penguin_!" Shachi cried with horror.

"Mostly because I'm reminded of who I am," Penguin said as Law scowled darkly at him. "And maybe I don't want to be that person, anymore. I mean, when we met, I was beating dudes outside of a bar with a damn _pipe_ for making fun of my fucking shirt, which, in retrospect, was pretty stupid at the time. Do you want _that_ person walking around in this time?"

"Maybe it's time for you to learn control," Law suggested. 'Maybe now's the time to do it."

Penguin frowned.

"At least you weren't like Eustess," Jean Bart assured Penguin.

"Yeah, that guy…that ghost was…he was totally human, but totally barbaric like a demon," Shachi said with a wince. He hit Penguin's hip with the back of his hand. "You're not Eustess. Don't worry about it. You got good guys here who will put you back into your place if you get out of control."

Penguin sighed. "I'll think about it."

Fifteen minutes later, the trio watched Law cautiously as the man tilted his head from side to side. His body language – usually stiff and serious – turned lanky, shoulders slouching. The man removed the ever present hat, tossing it aside, and patted his jacket for his glasses.

"I feel a little chonky," Law confessed lightly, removing his jacket and investigating the pockets for his missing glasses. "Guess my middle age is finally catching up to me."

"God, even your voice turns super homo when you turn into this guy," Penguin remarked with disgust, causing Law to look at him with a start.

He cleared it a few times, then said, "What about now?"

"You are just…please don't wear anything stupid out there. You're going to _die_."

Shachi rolled his eyes, opening up a beer. "Listen, dude, you're venturing out into a haunted forest. Jean Bart, pictures, please."

"A haunted forest? One of those things with amusement rides and all of that? You know how I feel about slides," Law asked with confusion as the bigger man towered over him, holding a pair of pictures in his hands. "Oh. Thank you."

"No, _stupid_. We were hired to find a ghost in particular, this dude and his dog," Shachi pointed out as Law inspected the pictures with interest. He squinted, drawing both close to his face while Shachi watched him with exasperation.

"Wow, if I smoked five packs of Marlboro Reds a day, cut my hair and lost about seventy pounds, he and I could be twins," Law murmured with interest. "Maybe it _is_ my evil twin. But look at his cute _puppy_ – "

"That is a demonic creature, you fool. It'll bite your balls off."

"Well…I'd better tuck them back, then. Penguin. Help me."

" _STOP IT_!"

Jean Bart sighed heavily as Shachi continued giving out instructions, and Law and Penguin pushed and pulled at each other. The air in the room seemed to shift with a particular difference that was noticeable. Jean Bart had known Trafalgar Law for years, but it never ceased to amaze him how his entire persona changed when he layered himself. Gone was the serious, intense man, and in his place was a chaotic, lanky figure whose movements were carelessly sloppy and yet feline. His voice seemed to change as well, growing lighter and more mischievous.

The trio was used to this man, but they knew it wasn't the true man himself.

"I'm blind," Law then decided, rummaging through the familiar suitcase. He tossed some articles of clothing aside with disdain, pulling up a simple black shirt. He removed all of his upper outerwear to change into that, wiggling with discomfort as he pulled at the strict oval collar. "I can't see for shit. Penguin. Lead me."

"I'm going to _die_ out there. You volunteered to strut in there on your own, you go on your own. I'll wait in the car."

Law adjusted the hoodie he then pulled on, layering Shachi's jean jacket over that while Shachi complained. Glancing around the room, he gave a light sigh.

"I thought Sanji would be here," he said morosely. "He's home, isn't he? Hiding from me. _Now_ what'd I do?"

"Get his phone, _get his phone_ ," Shachi instructed Jean Bart from the corner of his mouth, Jean Bart retrieving Law's jacket and searching the pockets with frantic pawing.

Law snagged his sword case, swinging that over one shoulder and adjusting the fit. "Well, let's go. I'm interested in this adventure. _Oof_. Walk with me slowly, Penguin. I fear my pants will cause some unseemly splitting in certain areas if I move a certain way."

"Then don't move in a certain way!" Penguin snapped impatiently at him, the pair leaving the room.

"Did you find his phone?" Shachi asked Jean Bart with worry.

"Nope," the older man said heavily. "I did not."

: :

Sanji was startled to see Law's ID pop up on his phone, and his heart jumped ever so slightly.

 _He's hurt, something happened_ …! were his first thoughts of dismay, causing panic to build and lump in his throat. Then he looked at his reflection with impatience. The moving train gave him speeding pictures of a rainy night, the car quiet with passengers either sleeping or involved in electronics of their own.

"Yes?" he answered low, adjusting the volume of his headphones.

"Greetings, Mr. Vinsmoke," he heard, his blood performing a slight jump as the tone and drawl of his name caused him some distress. Moments after the greeting passed, Sanji could hear the rumble of thunder in the distance, and the sound of a man breathing heavily through some heavy exertion. "Are you home?"

"No," Sanji answered tightly, eyes shifting back and forth. The difference in voices made him quite jumpy, unsure of what and how to feel.

"Why are you so upset? _Now_ what'd I do?"

"I…nothing. Nothing – what's wrong?"

"It's been ages since I've heard your voice. A _million_ years – here we are on some midnight adventure through a rainy wood, and…you weren't included. Are you being bullied by my friends?"

"No – "

"Did _I_ bully you? I have vague memory of you sitting at your table, looking tiredly timid. Oh, I do want to mention, it's lovely the way you've worked so hard to put some weight on your slouchy little shoulders. Have you been working out? Why did you change the scenery? I quite liked how indifferent your surroundings were in basis to your personality. Like you were temporary yourself. A living ghost – a haunted little field mouse, trying to save the rats of NIMH – "

Sanji sighed, struggling to keep up with the change of topic and the slight shift in tone. "God, that _rambling_ just drives me insane – _can I get a word in_?"

"Timmy. No, Tommy. The mouse's name? _Timothy_. You're not a Mrs Brisby just yet, you still invite needed protection - "

"Are – you have your layers back on, don't you?"

"I do. Those guys sent me into some haunted woods, and it's not that I'm scared of the people swinging from the tree limbs, but there are gleams lighting the darkness as well as the lightning, and – "

Sanji sighed noisily, hand to his head as Law continued to ramble. His phone vibrated to signal a text, and he swiped to see that Shachi was warning him about Law's "arrival". He responded back to him just in time to hear Law say, "I'm going to have to put my phone away, dear. There's a cute little puppy in need of my assistance. I'll send you a picture."

With the abrupt hang up, Sanji sat in his seat in rigid silence. His heart was pounding, his head spinning. He felt horribly confused. Closing his eyes, Sanji had to reflect within himself that the brief moment of happiness was there because he was recognized and remembered. The guilt followed right afterward.

 _It's like an ex had just returned back to town, and I'm living here with someone else_ , he thought morosely. His phone vibrated once, and he opened the sent picture.

The animal could barely be described as that – it was a demonic, snarling creature with red eyes, fur extended in black spikes along its spine and shoulders, blackened hands where the paws should have been braced against the uneven terrain. The foamy shadow bubbling around it didn't seem to waver against the flash of captured lightning in the thickly wooded trees. The area looked isolated, bumpy, full of threats – Sanji could see people hanging from branches, one sitting up against a trunk – missing their head.

He closed the picture quickly and shut his eyes, the imprint lingering against his closed eyelids.

He looked at his bag next to him, and reached in to make sure he felt the bullet hidden within the spiral coral of his notebook. Chewing his nail, he stared out the window of the passing scenery, wondering what to say or what to feel.


	3. Chapter 3

**3: He's Not Much For Words**

* * *

It was nearly three in the morning, and Sanji was watching the road for the Uber he'd ordered. He was shaking – not from the cold, but from the uncertainty and unease he felt with that one phone call. He was trying not to give into the impulse to get answers from the group, but his mind was pulled in various directions. These roiling feelings of guilt and unease from hearing the other man's ( _men's_?) voices left him feeling like he'd cheated on a twin.

"Why this place?" he mumbled, clutching his backpack. Robin looked back at him, skirts slithering against the sidewalk as she examined the parking lot and the trees beyond that. Beyond that, Sanji could see a storm sweeping by in the distance. Lightening danced and flashed – Law and the others were in the opposite direction, hours from this location.

"A mini-vacation. To take your mind off your worries," Robin said with a wistful glance out at the storm. From their position at the train station, the winding road from the off ramp of the freeway gave them visual confirmation of their Uber. There were others lingering about, smoking cigarettes or making quiet phone calls. Their presence was too distant for Sanji to feel any type of self-consciousness, speaking low with his mouth barely moving.

Robin's smile seemed to lose its strength. "But it seems it would not help much, considering your phone call."

Sanji exhaled slowly. "Dumb fuck old shit."

"I would not worry about him. He has lived this long, surviving many obstacles that are…considerably more worrisome than the task he's taking on, now."

"I don't think it's because I'm… _worried_ ," Sanji mumbled, adjusting his backpack once more. He wasn't sure how to explain it, feeling awkward trying to explain his confusion of feelings. He fell silent, jaw tensed as Robin looked away. Sanji felt liked he had to say something – something to remind Robin that she was valuable to him.

It often felt like he had to push unnecessarily to gain others' approval or attention.

"It's because they're two different people …"

Robin glanced back at him as a single car pulled up slowly through the separated lanes, taking careful ease to find the right Pick Up lane. A man smoking a cigarette looked at his phone with examination, then back at the car. But he put out his cigarette and hauled up his suitcase, moving back into the station once he determined it wasn't his ride.

"You don't have to explain yourself, Sanji. I understand."

Sanji watched the car pull up in front of them, the window lowering to reveal a somewhat cheerful blond man.

"Hi! I'm your driver! My name is Sabo! You're Sanji, right?"

"Yeah." Sanji opened the back door, and Sabo extended a hand, waving at him to sit in the front. Uncomfortable with the choice, Sanji hesitated. Robin slid into the backseat while he wavered, so he shut the door after her and reluctantly pulled himself to the front passenger seat. Sabo watched him settle with a pleasant expression, then touched his phone screen a few times before easing away from the curb.

"What brings you to this terrific town?" Sabo asked him with too much exuberance for three in the morning. When he looked at Sanji again, Sanji realized that this man's face was heavily scarred from some long ago burn. The pink edges looked accusing.

"I actually don't know why I'm here," Sanji said, pulling on his seatbelt and locking it for extra insurance. "I'm just here."

Sabo looked at him with immense sympathy. "Oh, I see. You're a runaway. You're running away from an arranged marriage because your parents forced you into it, and you can't do it because you don't love her, because you only marry for love."

Sanji stared at him for several seconds, then uttered, " _No_."

Sabo gave a laugh. "I'm only trying to wake you up, give you a laugh. I see your destination is the most haunted hotel in area…I thought that was a mistake."

"I had no idea it was a _haunted_ hotel when I booked it," Sanji said with gritted teeth.

"You can't actually book a room there," Sabo stated, reaching out to fiddle with the radio. "But that's where I gotta drop you off."

"Can it be another hotel?"

"No," Robin stated firmly. "Don't worry. There is room for us there."

"We're actually staying there," Sanji said aloud to himself, lowering his hands ever so slightly. "We're going to stay there. At the most haunted area in the whole friggin' area..."

"There's nothing to worry about there. I know some friends," Robin assured him.

"Oh, _friends_ …there's friends there," Sanji muttered underneath his breath, Sabo staring at him. "That's a relief."

"They're good people," Robin guaranteed him.

"I'll be the judge of that," Sanji said, Sabo's expression changing to utter confusion.

" _Who are you talking to_?" he asked Sanji with a shaky laugh. He gave him a nervous expression. "Are you okay? Perhaps it's too early in the morning – judging from your appearance, are you a recreational user? Maybe you can find something in here to bring you down a notch…"

He opened up his middle console to reveal a container of various shapes and sizes.

Sanji glanced in, mouth dropping before he looked at Sabo. "Are you a drug dealer?"

"I find them in my car. I just save them for someone else."

"Are you a real idiot, or just…?"

"I'm not the one referring to myself as ' _we'_!" Sabo said nervously, closing the console.

At the light rustling sound from the back, Sanji twisted to back at Robin to see what she was doing. She was smiling over at the area behind Sabo, where a dark-haired boy was bent over his knees to examine the contents of a greasy bag. Not that he could get it open – his hands floated uselessly against the presence of the fast-food bag, and he was steadily getting frustrated with it.

Sanji stared at him then at Sabo, who was nervously twirling at a curl of hair at his temple while guiding the car onto the freeway. He looked back at the ghost, who sat up with a whine of impatience. His unruly black hair was covered by a backwards cap, and he wore an athletic jacket, a red shirt underneath that. His blue jeans were ripped at the knees, and while he showed no indication of death, the boy was definitely dead.

He noticed Sanji looking at him, and froze in place.

Sanji broke eye contact with him and looked at Sabo before sitting straight in his seat. He heard rustling once more, and saw the kid attempting to unzip his backpack that Sanji had thrown onto the seat.

Because of his new-found knowledge on what gleams were, Sanji observed the rather bright light that surrounded the ghost. It was a strange glow – like black, shiny oil without a rainbow. Some outward tinges revealed a smoky maroon – every movement he made seemed to catch it to stretch with the sense of rubber – like a rubberband being forced to stretch.

"Who the hell are you?" Sanji asked him with bewilderment.

"I'm _Luffy_ ," the kid said to Sanji with confusion, stilling in movement. His eyes darted back and forth; to the driver, then back at him. He scooted up in his seat, leaning over the middle console. "Wait, are you talking to _me_?"

Sanji righted himself in his chair. He swallowed tightly as Sabo looked at him from the corner of his eye with nervous suspicion.

"Hey. Were you talking to me?" Luffy whispered – _rather noisily_ , Sanji thought. He forced his attention forward, rigid in his chair. "Hey. _Hey_ , you were talking to me, huh? You were looking at me – hey, do you see me? Can you actually see me? Hello?"

"Don't be rude, Sanji," Robin chided gently. "Introduce yourself."

" _Oh my god_ ," the boy straightened in his seat to look at her. His voice rose several notches, causing Sanji to cringe. "You- ! I _heard_ you!"

"My name is Robin," she said.

"Oh my god! Ha ha! This is great! I haven't spoken to someone in so long - _hi_! My name's Luffy! Wow, this is great! Hi, Robin! Wow, this is _amazing_! That's an awesome costume you have – what happened to your head?"

"Headache," Robin said lightly, indicating her obvious bullet wound with a gloved hand. Luffy stared at her with amazement, then his face dropped several notches as his big eyes scoured the wound with gravity. He froze.

" _That's no headache_ ," Sanji heard him whisper with horror.

Sanji wore a troubled expression as he reached up to clutch his seatbelt with both hands. Sabo glanced at him with worry, hands rigid on the wheel. He exhaled slowly before turning the volume up on the radio, strumming with discomfort over his passenger's subtle behavior.

Sanji glanced over at him, then resolved to stay silent. He could hear the boy shifting around in the backseat, once again leaning over to attempt rummaging through the balled up fast food bag. While he couldn't touch it, his muttering caused Sanji to twitch ever so slightly.

Luffy straightened up with an exasperated sigh. Sanji could feel the boy's eyes crawling all over him.

"So, Sanji," Luffy said slowly, leaning forward once more. "What brings you out here? Why are you going to a haunted motel? I mean, yeah, I get it, it's a tourist town, we get tons of visitors from the big cities, but, like, you have relatives here? Friends? No, WAIT!"

Sanji stared back at him while Luffy thought hard, veins bulging at his temple and neck. Sabo noticed Sanji staring into the backseat, so his eyes took to the rearview mirror to view absolutely nothing. He grew steadily more nervous, apprehensive about his passenger and his behavior. He gripped a suspiciously bent steering wheel with both hands.

"From the looks of you, I'd say you're a college kid visiting old friends who are set on spelunking in the mountains, to vacation at the hot springs, and to eat great food. Right? Am I right? At least a part of it?"

"No," Sanji answered Luffy. He adjusted his glasses stiffly.

"Visiting parents?"

" _No_."

"…Lost?"

Sabo cleared his throat noisily, causing Sanji to twitch before straightening in his seat, blushing with mortification. Uncomfortably, Sabo asked, "Did you have too much coffee? You are seeing and talking to nothing. Quite frankly, it's making me very nervous _._ "

"I'm his brother, and as his brother, I assure you, Sabo gets nervous a lot," Luffy said cheerfully.

Sanji struggled to think of an acceptable answer to give, but there was nothing acceptable about the situation. He briefly watched the scenery pass by, Sabo watching him from time to time with slight turns of his head. Sabo's scarred face turned worried, fingers clenching and unclenching over the steering wheel.

"Luffy," Robin interjected, "how did you die?"

Luffy straightened up to stare at her. He flopped back against his seat with a blowfish exhale. "Well…! Um…honestly, I'm not sure," he said slowly. He rummaged through his jacket and pants pockets before withdrawing a Pokémon wallet, and pulling out what looked like a Student ID. Robin took it, examining it thoughtfully.

"This was a year ago," she said aloud.

"Yeah, it's been awhile since people stopped talking to me. I thought people were just mad at me, but then I was at my own damn funeral, and it hit me. I was dead," Luffy said, a dazed expression in his voice. Sanji couldn't help but turn and look back at him. "I can't even remember what happened, but Sabo was in the hospital for a long time, and Ace was so mad at him…"

Sanji looked to Sabo. "Car accident?" he asked.

Sabo looked at him, frowning with discomfort. "What?"

"Were you in a car accident?"

"…a year ago," Sabo said, voice cracking slightly. "My scar? You're questioning my scar?"

"Sorry," Sanji apologized.

Sabo exhaled with a heavy expression. He nodded. "Yeah, it was a car accident. About a year ago…I…I lost my little brother in that accident."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Robin told Luffy, who looked alarmed. "That seems like a common death nowadays."

"I follow my brother everywhere. As you can see, he's a right mess," Luffy added.

"But he's so friendly!"

"Sorry to hear that," Sanji said to Sabo. "He seems like a nice guy."

Sabo performed a double take. "… _What_?"

"I mean…I'm sure he was a nice guy."

"I _am_ a nice guy," Luffy insisted with a shrug. "At least, I thought I was…then I died. I really have no memory of dying! I only knew that I did when I found my brothers at my funeral! Like, _how'd_ I die?"

Sanji looked to Sabo. "How'd he…?"

Sabo glanced at him, fumbling for words as this complete stranger brought up such an uncomfortable topic. "Head injury. Fell into a coma and didn't…he was brain dead. They had to pull the plug."

Luffy reached up to his head, touching frantically. He removed his hat, revealing unruly black hair that scattered as his fingers searched. But all that he found was a scar on his face, his expression so confused that Sanji looked back at him with sympathy.

"Sorry," Sanji repeated to Sabo before returning his attention to the window.

Sabo looked at Sanji skeptically, the other blond attempting to ignore that look. Sabo looked at his phone to see how close they were to their destination, Luffy pushing himself up between them. He squinted at Sabo's phone, then gasped as he looked to Sanji.

"That's your destination, right? _Oh, man_! I'd love to go, but no one ever wants to go with me. Too scared. That hotel's dangerous, y'know? I YouTube'd it and stood outside sometimes, but it's not fun to do something without friends, and my friends are scared of ghosts," Luffy said.

"Maybe now you can," Robin suggested, Luffy whipping his head around to look at her with delight.

"Can I go in with you guys?"

"You can go anywhere you like," she assured him with a wink.

"Oh, man, this is going to be great! I've always wanted to!"

"Can you both keep it down? I feel like I'm losing my mind," Sanji murmured, hand to his forehead while Sabo looked at him with utter confusion. He adjusted his glasses clumsily with the back of his hand.

Sabo exhaled heavily, glancing at his passenger from the side of his eye while facing the road.

"There it is," he then said, pointing out at a tall building nestled between some smaller ones. The dark shape of it told Sanji it was a multi-story structure with old fashioned signs still clinging to its brick. The parking lot was maintained to allow parking for other, more brightly lit buildings settled around it. Considering that hotels were notorious for lingering souls, Sanji felt downtrodden encountering any of them. He rested his head back against the chair, struggling to maintain a sense of dignity.

Luffy gave an excited whoop, clinging to Sabo's seat. "I dunno, man, it looks pretty creepy. It looks crazy during the day, too, but at night? Looks even worse. And you're gonna stay there? Man, you're wild."

"Why are you going there alone?" Sabo then questioned Sanji skeptically. "Why is this your destination? Are you a ghost hunter, or something?"

"Something like that," Sanji muttered.

"Is that why you're able to see me?" Luffy asked Sanji. "You can see ghosts? _WOW_! Where were you when I needed you? Like, a long time ago?"

Sanji glanced over at Luffy. Sabo sped up a little, noticing his passenger's odd actions. Once they were in front of the building, Sanji hesitated for a moment as Sabo touched the screen of his phone a few times to clear the ride. Looking back at Luffy, he said, "What do you want Sabo to know?"

Luffy and Sabo looked at him with puzzled expressions. _They weren't blood brothers_ , Sanji thought.

" _Hurry up_. Before he has a heart attack."

"It wasn't his fault," Luffy said slowly. "I should've wore my seat belt. I'm sorry."

"He apologizes for not wearing his seatbelt, and wants you to know that he's sorry," Sanji relayed to Sabo, who looked at him with an expression of frozen horror. Sanji pushed the door open, then opened the back. Robin climbed out first, Sanji allowing her time to clear his way before he reached in for his bag.

Sabo's mouth opened and closed a few times while Luffy looked at him with confusion before telling Sanji, "Also, tell him to tell Ace that Ace can find his stupid hat at our old base in the woods," Luffy added hastily. "Ace has been looking for that thing for so long -! It's under the bookshelf. Tell him I'm sorry, but he deserved that for sleeping with Sabo's girlfriend."

Sanji told that to Sabo before reaching in and snatching up the greasy fast-food bag. He then shut the rear door, leaning in through the passenger side door to indicate the bag as he was throwing it away for him as a favor. Sabo stared after him in stunned silence, unmoving. Sanji shut that door, scanned the area for a trash can, and just ended up stuffing it into his backpack.

He turned to the face the building with rising apprehension, pulling the backpack straps on with nervous hands. He used some twitching of his nose to readjust his glasses. Robin was already approaching the boarded front doors. Sanji noticed that most of the windows on the first and second floor were boarded up, tagged with maintenance and city symbols. The town was seemingly empty at night – with the vague sounds of the freeway in the distance, and a new weight of peace and quiet that wasn't common in the city where he was from. It was almost unsettling, Sanji glancing around apprehensively, expecting to see people on the sidewalks or driving through the empty lanes of the main road.

He jumped ever so slightly as Luffy bumped into him, looking up at the building with a low whistle. "We going in?" he asked.

"' _We'_?" Sanji repeated. Sabo was still staring at him in incredulous silence from his running car. "Dude, get back into your car and scram."

" _Rude_ ," Luffy muttered, frowning at him. "You're the first person I've talked to in ages, and you're trying to get rid of me already. You city people are so rude."

After a few moments, he looked back at his brother. His expression drew long and sad, Sanji glancing at him once he registered the silence.

"Sabo thought it was his fault," Luffy mumbled. "But it wasn't. I didn't listen to him. It was mine. The car that hit us ran a stop sign. I've wanted him to know that part…I should've listened to him…"

Sanji wasn't sure what to say as Sabo looked away, still caught in the grips of his own feelings. But he could hear all of Luffy's. It made him uncomfortable, but at the same time, it felt like he'd helped in some way.

"You can't go in there by yourself!" Luffy then exclaimed, gesturing wide at the building. His voice carried at an obscene volume through the silence, causing Sanji to twitch. "Are you meeting someone? If you are, I can go with you…"

The lock to the front door bounced off the sidewalk, boards and planks clattering noisily soon after. Sanji watched Robin push the door open, walking into the building with a billow of dust shooting out onto the sidewalk. Sanji glanced at Sabo cautiously before digging into his backpack, withdrawing a flashlight. The scarred man, with slow, heavy actions, put the car into drive and pulled away. At the sight of his taillights moving down the street, Sanji wondered if it were better to have said nothing at all.

 _Boundaries, Sanji_ , he heard Law admonish him.

Luffy ventured after Sanji in strange silence. Despite the scene that had taken place, his face lit up with excitement. Walking into the building, Sanji examined the lobby with his flashlight. Robin was nowhere in sight. Abandoned furniture had been covered with rotting canvas sheets. There were cobwebs collected against the joists in the ceiling. Mirrors reflected dully with his moving light. The silence was still and heavy, the air thick with dust and the taste of something familiar.

" _Shit_!" Luffy exclaimed, startling Sanji with the sound of his voice. "This place is so cool! Everything looks so…spooky!"

Only Sanji's footprints were left behind as they walked forward, following a rotted running carpet that led directly to the front desk. Luffy followed after him with an awed expression, careful to step where Sanji had.

Hearing no other movement than theirs, Sanji lowered his flashlight with a slow exhale of breath. "Robin?" he called out cautiously, wincing slightly after as his voice carried through the place like a shot.

"Is she your girlfriend?" Luffy asked, his voice ringing loudly off the stillness. "Isn't she kinda old?"

Sanji looked at him impatiently, glancing back and forth towards the various doorways that represented strong shadowy portals. Dust motes drifted aimlessly in front of his flashlight, wood creaking with light disturbance from somewhere ahead of them. Sanji ventured in that direction, Luffy following along with a light exhale.

"Oh, man, where are all the ghosts? Hey, ghosts!" he called out, cupping his mouth with both hands. "Come out, come out, wherever you are! Hey, I'm a ghost, too!"

"Kindly shut your shitty trap, please," Sanji ordered him. "You're a _ghost_. I'm not. I'd rather not talk to every single one of them. "

"The fact that you can see and talk to me is…or is it us? Do you talk to other ghosts, too? Hey, are you like, a psychic?" Luffy asked him curiously.

"Sanji."

Sanji looked up, hearing Robin call for him a distance away. He took the rest of the stairs carefully, Luffy still wearing a bewildered expression as he followed. On the second floor, they were greeted to the sight of a hallway littered with empty beer bottles, trash, blankets and broken furniture. The windows were broken, but the boards nailed over them allowed the night wind in through the open slits. It caused an uncomfortable whistling that made both of them anxious.

Sanji caught sight of Robin standing in front of a large corridor, so he eased in that direction, hearing Luffy follow.

Robin waited for their approach, wearing a light smile. Luffy eased in closer to Sanji, bumping the other man. Sanji elbowed him away.

"What are we doing here?" Luffy asked Robin. "This place has been abandoned for years. Are you leading us to some kind of treasure, or something? Are we solving a mystery?"

"My companion here has been suffering from the immensity of life's little pressures," Robin said, pushing the doors behind her open. Hinges creaked noisily, causing Luffy to shout and startle, watching with wide eyes as he saw this happen. "So I thought this little vacation would help lift his spirits."

"How'd you do that?" Luffy cried. "I've been trying to touch things all the time! I never can!"

Robin looked him over, wearing a head tilt. To Sanji, she said, "He has a gleam."

"I watched him struggle with opening up Sabo's leftovers," Sanji said with a puzzled look at Luffy. "So why can't he touch anything if he has a gleam…?"

"Luffy," Robin asked, looking at the boy as he looked up at her with his arms crossed over his chest, an expression of excitement on his face, "what did you love while you were alive?"

" _Pft_ , that's easy," Luffy said with a light chuckle. "Food and my brothers. Food, mainly. Hamburgers…anything with meat. I miss eating. _Oh my god_ , I missing eating as much as I miss my brothers…"

Robin looked to Sanji with understanding, Sanji wearing a puzzled frown as he remembered the bag he'd stuffed into his backpack. Looking from one to the other, Luffy slouched his shoulders. "None of ya'll are going to actually finish this weird questioning? I feel like you're supposed to finish it…."

"There's a lot for you to learn, Luffy," Robin assured him. "There's plenty of time to show you."

Sanji lifted the light to shine forward as Robin turned and walked into the room that had opened, Luffy looking after her with a fitful frown. But he followed after them.

Sanji waved the light about, unsure of what he was looking for. All he caught within the cone of light were tables piled atop of each other, chairs stacked in stark rows up against the wall, and more boarded windows. But the carpet here seemed brighter, with a disorienting design. He examined that, catching bird and rat droppings before lifting his head. He stilled.

The room changed right before their eyes – restoring back its original state with carpeting that smelled new, windows that gleamed with brilliant illuminance, with a dance floor teeming with men and women moving to music being played by a quartet in the corner. The bar area was glittering with candle lights, flickers of electricity and busy bartenders. Tables were aglow with single candles, glasses snatched up by workers dressed in crisp blouses and trousers.

The air smelled of tobacco, body odors, cologne and perfumes – laughter, voices and music became a heavy weight that caused both of the living immense disorientation. Robin's dress had changed to pure white, her mortal wound gone – her black hair gathered in a stiff collection of curls that dangled around her bare shoulders.

Luffy uttered a sharp sound, paling significantly as his eyes rounded to the size of dinner plates. Sanji blinked heavily from behind his lenses, enraptured by the sights around them. Swallowing tightly, he looked to Robin with a sense of lightheaded disbelief, the woman as alive and solid as the living.

"Enjoy yourselves," she said, her voice thick and soothing, a quality that seemed alien for Sanji. Her dress whispered at her feet as she turned and mingled in with the dancers, disappearing within their depths.

After some moments of being frozen, Sanji looked down at the flashlight he held in one sweaty hand. He flicked it off as Luffy continued to gape, so pale that he nearly matched Sanji's white shirt. Sanji put the flashlight aside, apprehensive of the eyes that didn't linger in their direction. It was almost as if he'd stepped through time, and while his thoughts scattered with his disorientation and disbelief, the fact that Robin did this for him caused him immense gratitude.

He wasn't sure what to say, wasn't sure how to formulate words. He looked down at himself, knowing he was sure to stand out in his modern clothing. But a couple walking by with full glasses in hand swept through him – like he was a ghost. Being ignored caused Sanji some odd relief. He looked to Luffy, the boy stock still at his side.

He elbowed him. "Let's go check it out. How often do you run into a situation like this?"

"I don't know how to dance…how the _hell_ is this some kinda of vacation?" Luffy then added on a wheeze, looking at Sanji with confusion. "What the hell are you? Are you really a ghost hunter?"

Sanji shrugged, unsure how to answer. "I'm new at this," he muttered. "I mean, not new at hearing or seeing them, but…looking for them on my own."

"What are you looking for?"

"I don't know. Robin…Robin just brought me out here."

Luffy gave him a skeptical look. "Are you sure she's not your girlfriend?"

"Quite positive."

"Your mom?"

"Obviously not, jackass."

"Wow, there's that rudeness again…"

"Look, kid," Sanji said, looking at Luffy with a frown, "I'm sorry things are the way they are for you. But I don't know why I'm here. She's sort of an enigma. All I know is that I'm hours away from home, and this…this is something I'd never seen before. Meeting you wasn't my intention."

Luffy frowned sullenly, plucking at his coat. Sanji stared down at him, feeling a wretched feeling yank at his chest.

"But maybe we were meant to meet," Sanji then said low. "Maybe your older brother needed to hear what he needed from you, and…I don't know."

"So, like…you're an angel?"

" _No_. Far from it. I'm just a guy that hears ghosts. A nutjob."

Luffy looked up at him skeptically. After a few moments, Sanji pulled his bag around to his front and began rifling through it. He found the bullet that he'd tucked into his notebook, the metal dull underneath the gleam of lights around him. Rolling that between his index finger and thumb, he wondered what Robin meant to do here with his assistance. Glancing around, he noted the reveler's clothing, the setup of the room. He pulled out his phone from his back pocket, then quickly texted Shachi a question.

Once he received an answer, he understood; Robin was looking for information on the man they were hunting in the haunted forest. He locked his phone and slipped it back into his pocket, shoving the bullet into his shorts pocket. He pulled his backpack on, Luffy standing there with a strong sense of mystification.

Sanji looked at him with a tired smile. "C'mon, kid. Let's go look at things."

"That's it?"

"Robin is helping someone gather information. It's complicated. Explaining it would be a waste of time."

"This is what ghost hunters do?" Luffy asked skeptically, following after him. "Solve mysteries and shit?"

"Yeah, I suppose."

"Who's your Scooby? I can be your Scooby," Luffy snickered, and for a moment, he did look like a puppy. Sanji had an urge to pat the top of his head, but he instead fisted his hand into his pockets.


	4. Chapter 4

**4: He's Hid In His Hardened Way**

* * *

Two days later, Law watched the sun rise up through the towering city buildings. The heavy silence in his apartment felt foreign and strange, almost overwhelmingly suffocating. The place his other selves had bought years ago was located near the north end of the city, and allowed ample sights of the city and the grey ocean in the distance. It was furnished with simple things, the curtains dark – but it felt so empty and so strange. Staying here was uncomfortable for him – the silence was too immense. He kept twitching towards the smaller sounds that were normal for his place; the creak of wood, the settling of glass under the warmth of the sunlight, the sounds of people in the hallway. Faint sounds, but sounds nonetheless. His sense of smell seemed heightened – his stomach gurgled noisily, and the only images to present themselves were that of venison, rabbit, bird – he never had a problem with meat. It was intense to suddenly acknowledge craving it.

Their adventure into the haunted forest was over. He had the memory of returning to the hotel room, but it was troublesome how spotty the images were. That was how it was – left with holes in his memory after a layering, but Penguin had taken the recorder, and Law had noticed that his blade was stained with foamy black remnants. Once he was himself – Jean Bart returning his layers to their appropriate boxes – Law was reminded of his mood in the first place.

He'd checked his phone – noticed that he'd called Sanji once during that time period, but there was nothing else to indicate what had been said. What did his other selves needed to say so urgently? It was incredible that they'd remember – but then again, layers were only aware of a situation if their host was. So more than likely they'd feasted on his continued ruminating over the situation.

 _Am I a better person with or without_? Law found himself wondering for the countless time. Insecure, he'd found himself deliberating over his flaws with troublesome weight. He knew he came off abrasive and short tempered, but he'd always been like that. Nonetheless, it seemed like the room changed when he wasn't himself. So now he was questioning his worth.

He felt Sanji's words against the back of his thoughts and as a weight on his own tongue. Running his hands through his hair as he braced elbows atop of knees, Law ached to hear the admonishing words from the only man he'd ever loved. But he couldn't remember the sound of the waiter's voice - couldn't remember his laugh. It was time that took him away, and Law felt the weight of his own grief returning to knock at his doors.

 _Tell me what to do_ , he inwardly begged. He knew he wouldn't get an answer. The waiter was gone. _He was gone_. He rubbed his face with heavy fingers. Every decision and every choice he would make would be his own, with his own influence. He was certain every one of them would be bad ones.

His entire body jolted when he realized he was hearing actual knocks at his front door. Straightening from his easy chair, he stalked over to look cautiously through the peephole then stood back, feeling amazed. He unlocked it and opened it ever so slightly so Sanji could peek in on him.

"You awake?" Sanji asked him cautiously, carrying a bag in one hand. "I brought breakfast."

Law smelled the food and registered the scent of a new person – _no, not new_ , he caught himself with a puzzled frown. Not a new person – it was Sanji's smell. Why would he think that…?

Sanji shouldered his way in, causing Law to scowl momentarily. He felt rocked off balance by the sudden visit, and wasn't sure how to compose himself appropriately. _This was not a sign – it was a coincidence_. But he shut the door. He winced as Sanji opened up the curtains in the living room, exposing the wakening city life and allowing the sun to illuminate his dark colored furniture. In his orange striped sweater loosely swinging over cuffed jean shorts, hair hanging in damp curls at his neck, the blond himself stood out brightly against the darkness. The color of his hair, the glow of his skin – _a different man_. But Law found himself staring at him in silence, a strong, indiscernible feeling making its weight known in his chest.

 _Affection_ , he realized. Genuine affection for another person. Why was it surprising to acknowledge that? Maybe because Law had convinced himself he wouldn't feel this sort of feeling for someone else after the waiter. It almost made him feel…hopeful. He was capable of feeling for another person.

After that, Sanji was in the kitchen – looking through cupboards and the refrigerator and giving a shake of his head. Unloading his bag with brisk movements, Sanji said, "I thought so, Captain America. You live at restaurants. You don't eat food."

"You don't, either," Law mumbled uncomfortably, trying to sort out his feelings and put them back in their spaces so he could concentrate. Now that he was aware of them, he felt awkward and brisk. He didn't get the pop culture reference, envisioning old comic books – but Sanji had thought that the man standing stiffly in a white button-down shirt that was tucked into belted trousers resembled a recent movie character. Law wasn't exactly "America's Ass," but he sure dressed like him. It would be hard to explain.

"I'm working on that. I got a phone call over the weekend – how'd the trip go?"

"What was said?" Law asked cautiously, venturing over to join him at the counter. He could smell bacon – it caused every part of him to lunge with joy, mouth salivating. He was _hungry_ – ravenous, even.

"Nothing incriminating," Sanji assured him, pulling out plasticware and unloading strips of bacon, eggs and English muffins. The eggs were browned and sloppy with bacon grease, the sight unappetizing for him. The English muffins could have used a couple more minutes in the toaster – he'd always cooked something light and easy for the other Law – but those ones…their taste buds were always demanding something different and they never seemed to care of the presentation. This situation was different. He wasn't sure how.

He then pulled out a carton of mixed fruit. He paused when Law snatched the small pile of crisp bacon, shoving it into his mouth. After a few moments of noisy chewing, Sanji looked up at him with disgust. "Are you a dog?"

Law watched him with a scowl. He spoke with his mouth full. "So you came over expecting to speak to those persons?"

Settling his hands over the opened plasticware, Sanji let the flare of temper build and pass over – tongue between teeth to keep from saying anything damaging from escaping. _Don't go_. He could _feel_ those words. _Don't run_. _Try_.

 _That's my own instinct, right_? he thought in a brief moment of panic. It took him a moment to understand that it was. Because after being introduced to this ghost-chasing lifestyle, it was fairly obvious that his first instinct was to flee the situation; being exposed to something new and possibly frightening fought against that one to remain with question.

Therefore, he was telling himself to stay. He opened the fruit container, setting the lid aside. Inside were hastily sliced fruits – sloppy, but Zeff's instructions had been present in his memory upon the actions.

" _No_ ," Sanji then said slowly, gathering some strength before looking at him. "I knew he wasn't around. Conversation wouldn't stop at a phone call, and my phone only rang once. I came here knowing it was you."

"I didn't invite you."

 _Well, duh_ , Sanji thought to himself. _I invited myself_.

He kept that to himself, awkwardly fumbling with his tasks.

Law was aware he'd made the other man uncomfortable. He exhaled tightly, crossing his arms over his chest. "You don't normally come over. I'm…unprepared. My thoughts are…scattered."

Sanji looked at him, a little curious as to why the man seemed upset. Maybe he should have warned him he was on his way – Law had the courtesy to do so. He looked over the breakfast items with a sense of distance.

"He hasn't been in the best of moods. Hasn't slept right since when he'd returned from his trip," an elderly man said from the sofa, hands atop of his thighs as he looked at Sanji with a tilt of his head. He peered up at Sanji from underneath his red visor, his gray hair slicked back from his elderly face. "Ruminating over too many things, I bet. I've been listening to his stomach growl for the past day."

Sanji stared at him in silence to judge the man's character, Law unaware of the visitor while he gave a gruff exhale to dispel the tension in his chest. Sanji's sudden silence and uncomfortable expression seemed to suggest that the younger man was in the midst of some insecure turmoil. He was so opposite of the waiter – _Sanji wasn't the waiter_ , Law kept telling himself – that Law always seemed to stumble ungracefully in his presence.

"Sometimes," Law said low, "even if they are things you'll regret saying, just saying them would make everything clear."

"There's a dark air lingering over him. Smells foul," the man continued, wearing a concerned expression over Law's words. As he spoke, Law glanced at Sanji to see his reaction and found Sanji focused on listening to something else. "Lost my sense of smell years ago, but I'm reminded of a wet dog. And something like…rotten eggs."

Sanji looked to Law with concern, Law's eyes darting back and forth from him to an empty sofa.

"You brought something back with you?" Sanji then asked, tentatively returning to his task.

" _Who are you talking to_?" Law asked with exasperation. Sanji looked back at the man with question, the man answering slowly.

"Says his name is Wolf. Old man. Inventor," Sanji reported back. "You bought his 'cave' years ago – this was his place."

"Nothing was…I never heard a thing," Law then said with trouble, looking back at the empty couch.

It wasn't Sanji's first visit here. His only visit was when Law had clumsily invited him over for Christmas. Sanji hadn't been back since. It was too awkward. Too intimate. Neither had them had figured out how to relax.

He repeated what Wolf added. "Said he didn't have to say anything to you. Just stayed out of the way. By the way, uh…those were his things you shoved into storage – I don't know what that means…"

Law thought of the various things he'd packed up and away because they weren't his – he'd thought they were all the others'. He looked back at the couch with frustration, feeling incredulous that he'd lived here all this time with another ghost. _Why couldn't he smell him_ …?

He focused on the present. "What's this about bringing something back?"

Sanji removed his glasses, setting them aside on the counter. One arm was bent. The lenses kept fogging up. There was an odd heat to the room that didn't make any sense. "The trip. How did it go?"

"…I thought you wanted space."

Sanji exhaled heavily, reaching up to fiddle with his hair. The ends curled at his ears and danced at his neck. "I took a vacation of my own."

"So, you're _healed_ , now?" Law asked him, his sarcasm dark.

Sanji grimaced, looking down at his own shoes, his words ringing back at him. He was used to tension – family circumstances – but this was too intimate. Like fighting with an upset partner( _jealousy_?). He wasn't sure about jealousy. Because of his siblings and father, he'd hated men; he knew his own jealousy was based on what they were allowed to do and how they were treated compared to him. The other selves of Law had childishly used his jealousy in such a way that Sanji couldn't treat it seriously – never knowing if Law were serious about him in the first place - so relationship-type jealousy was a new concept for him. But the word wasn't right. It felt too accusing; maybe the man wanted to fight. A useless fight to continue hiding from his own uncertain feelings.

It made more sense, because Law avoided talking about his feelings.

Sanji asked Law, "You're testing me to walk away, and I warn you right now, I will. I won't stand here and fight just to prove myself."

Law stared down at him for several moments, then said, "So you'll create boundaries against the living, but can't of the dead? What a hypocrite."

Sanji looked at Wolf, his hands sliding into his jacket pockets. He approached him, exhaling lightly. "All you have is a smell?" he asked him, trying to stave off the shaking in his voice. The man didn't wear a gleam. He was as solid as a ghost – blue in the lips, his muscle elasticity evident. His eyes sagged low against his cheeks – his teeth were yellowed and seemingly fragile. His skin was pale with a green tinge – the backs of his hands, his upper forearms were heavily discolored with the presence of blood pooling. He was someone who died and hadn't been discovered for some time. "Of…of this wet dog?"

"It's not really a smell," Wolf said slowly. "It's…a sensation, as if I had smelled it in passing and registered that I did. And this room…it isn't always this dark. You have the curtains open, yet everything looks as if it's painted in shadows."

Sanji glanced about, noticing that it was true. There were too many heavy shadows cast against the walls and floors, the furniture caught in some sort of eve between night and early morning. The sun was steadily lifting, bathing the city in warmth, and this place felt cold and hidden away from it.

He then looked to Law with suspicion, the man frowning back at him. But Sanji couldn't maintain eye contact – his eyes lowering to the other man's shoes. He then nodded stiffly to himself.

 _Surely a man that regularly layers himself in leftover ghosts would detect being possessed by something else_ , he mused.

"The living changes their pain and focus based upon how they feel at that moment," Sanji told Law tightly. "The dead are caught in theirs. It's easier to dismiss and walk away from the living when they are only temporary and judgmental."

"It didn't seem like I was temporary to you."

"I already stated my reasons. For me to insist on repeating them upon your constant jabbing means you're feeling some type of insecurity. What happened up there?" Sanji asked, tensing himself against the answers.

"Should I pile on some layers on so you can get an easy answer?"

"You're snippy, today. Extra _sensitive_ ," Sanji muttered. "Did someone offer you a senior discount again?"

Law looked at him furiously, Sanji squinting as he looked up into those angry, amber eyes, looking for someone else. There was a faint tinge of black around his irises that didn't seem right. He reached out and shoved a shoulder, causing Law to rock on his feet. In that moment, Sanji saw a shape in foamy black catch up to the man's flailing limbs as he straightened himself. Sanji froze, hearing the couch creak as the older man stood in startled reaction.

" _What was that_?" Wolf demanded as Law shoved Sanji back hard enough to stumble over the hall runner. Wolf caught his arm, keeping Sanji from hitting the floor. He released his arm anyway, surprised that he had made physical contact with the living as Law gave a startled look at that invisible grip. Wolf looked back at Law with alarm, the man wearing a stunned expression as Sanji stood up quickly.

The blond wore a look that could only be described as relief. _It feels so much better knowing this aggression isn't his_ , Sanji decided at that moment. _It's someone else's_.

Sanji scanned the apartment, spying the sword case hanging up near the bedroom door – almost covered by casual jackets. He then remembered that intense moment when his own mother tried to kill him – how the action had taken the gleam he'd wore in place of his death. Perhaps he could kill the one hiding within Law to reveal the man himself.

He exhaled lightly, and walked to the kitchen to finish unloading the food. Law stood near the living room, looking in the direction he'd last seen Sanji direct attention to. Wolf was watching him, taking careful steps to the side and seeing Law unable to detect his movement. Once Sanji caught his eye, the blond pressed a finger to his lips, Wolf wearing a frown.

"Eat some breakfast," Sanji said, finding a plate and dumping the eggs, fruit and English Muffin upon it. "Maybe you won't feel so cranky after you get some food in you."

"I just don't get why you're here," Law said, turning to look at him. "After what you told me. Suddenly, you decide to disregard your own fucking words? You came here because you'd hoped to talk to someone else – "

"I already told you," Sanji snapped at him, taking his plate to the table, then returning to find some utensils. His hand hesitated over the single steak knife near the utensil drawer, but he drew that out as well, searching the cupboards for a cup. He abandoned the task. "I know how the other one works. Communication stopped at a single phone call – it wasn't always just a phone call."

He walked back to the table, setting the utensils down. He gestured at the table. "Eat."

"I'm not hungry. _I don't eat breakfast_."

Sanji thought about the bacon the older man had shoved in his mouth a few minutes ago, and decided that riling him up was a dangerous choice. He didn't know who was standing in his shadow.

Sanji slowly sat, pulling his chair in close to the table. He picked up his utensils, and started cutting the food upon the plate with aggressive gestures. He forced a mouthful of eggs, chewing with effort as Law slowly approached him. His chewing turned continuous as he felt his building adrenaline pulse at his veins and shorten his breath.

"Where are the others?" he asked, hardly able to swallow.

"At the bar. I want you out of my place. I didn't ask for your company. I'm… _angry_ at you," Law then demanded, frowning down at him. Sanji furrowed his brow, wondering why the word left him so stressfully.

 _That could be his actual feeling_ , Sanji thought with some consideration, food tucked against the inside of his cheek. It surprised him to acknowledge that. To feel something at that level for some( _thing_ )one to grasp onto seemed to settle some things inside of him; lighten the load of his own insecurities. He set the fork down, the utensil clattering against the plate loudly. The eggs he'd chewed to pieces refused to venture anywhere near his throat, so the content felt like gummy bile against his teeth and cheek. He almost felt like retching as he clasped his hands together over the plate.

 _He's hurt_ , he thought incredulously, heart thumping slightly. _He's hurt_.

Crossing his arms over his chest, Law continued to frown down at Sanji. But his hands tightened into fists.

"Aren't you going to swallow that?" he then asked of Sanji, the tension thick between them. Sanji rose from his chair, hand clasped over his mouth.

"Where's your bathroom?" he asked Law.

"Is your cooking _that_ bad? It's down the hall," Law said, pointing in that direction. Sanji nodded, hand passing over the utensils before pushing away from the table.

He clumsily stabbed at the man, but Law's fingers wrapped firmly around his wrist – his grip unflinchingly and unnaturally strong. Sanji stilled, wincing at the squeeze, feeling as if his bones were grinding together. He ended up dropping the knife, trying to pry fingers away from his wrist. When that wasn't possible, he headbutted the man's chin as hard as he could. It felt like he'd just bounced his head off the wall, his brain ringing. He ended up spitting out the pieces of his eggs to the floor.

"I've had enough of your idiocy," Law muttered, jerking his arm down and pulling him roughly towards the door. "Whatever your intentions were, they were unwelcome."

Sanji managed to jerk himself behind him, causing Law to pause in mid-step, turning to look at him. Sanji landed a foot just above his groin, natural reaction having Law crouch and release his wrist at the same time. Before his foot could come down, Sanji kicked upward, putting all his strength behind it – imagining Law as one of his brothers to give him that strength needed to exert the pressure.

It had enough give to cause Law's head to snap back, that foamy black substance visible for a split second – Sanji lunged at it, fingers curling within the foam and finding solid weight in the sensation of _something_ that bristled like wire over his fingertips. He yanked back towards himself, heels in the carpet as Law stumbled back and the weight of another material became present in Sanji's hands.

The animal twisted with a wild snarl, body pulling away from Law's. The released weight caused Law a hard fall against the door and Sanji to hit the floor with unexpected release. Wolf gave a startled cry, jumping backwards as white curved teeth snapped at the air.

Once revealed, Sanji saw the shape of the animal Law had sent him a picture of – only it was half of the beast, dragging its upper body by appendages with human hands attached to them. Red, beady eyes locked upon him as its tonal snarls crackled through the silence. It fought to brace itself, Sanji noticing movement from the corner of his eye. The shadows that enveloped the place unnaturally seemed to seep towards the beast, reforming its missing pieces with wet sucking noises. As it grew, it seemed to expand in size, fur bristling as its shoulder spikes trembled. It began to fill in the parts of its body that was missing, the sound growing as a staticky hiss that cracked and popped.

The shadowy animal whirled with a warning snarl as Law scrambled to his feet, looking for his sword. Sanji kicked at the creature to recapture its attention, landing a Vans covered foot against one of its hands – the movement of it seemed to crackle like shattering ice as fingers curled inward and that "paw" lifted with injury. The creature looked to him, then darted forward with its mouth unhinging wide to bite. Sanji covered himself without any other choice, hearing a solid crunching noise rend the air.

He looked over to see that Wolf had inserted himself between them, and the animal snapped the ghost in half with a single chomp of its teeth and strong jaw. Before the man could fall to gruesome pieces, spilling rotted innards onto the floor with a splatter, Law had returned with his sword and lunged at it. The blade ripped through the animal's' neck, causing it to jerk wildly backwards. With a windy howl, it spilled foamy black sludge over the floor and wall, darting towards the door. The shadows evaporated over its reforming body, leaving behind spurts of black mist as it disappeared through the doorframe.

Sanji looked to where Wolf had been, watching the ghost evaporate into absolute nothing without uttering a sound. In disbelief he sat there, heart thumping noisily as his breath came back to him in short gusts. He looked to Law, who wore a surprised and pale expression, eyes wide against his own face.

He immediately reached out and pulled Sanji to his feet, looking him over. Sanji noticed that the apartment seemed brighter – in a sense, the shadows that had weighed so heavily over every object, hiding within every corner had disappeared. The natural lighting was more prominent, now, giving the place a sense of life that hadn't been there when he'd walked in minutes ago.

In a slight state of shock, Law touched his own face and hands, Sanji jerking his head quickly out of reach from his sword's blade to avoid being cut.

"How'd you know?" Law asked him incredulously.

"You didn't know you had some _demon animal_ inside of you, hitching a ride?" Sanji returned, bending at the knees to fight off the woozy feeling he felt at the encounter.

"I thought I'd killed it – here, sit down," Law then directed him to the nearby chair, ushering without touching. Sanji took the seat, exhaling heavily at the loss of adrenaline.

"Jesus, I'm not going to get used to fighting ghosts," he wheezed, hand pressed to his heart. "And they just get weirder and weirder!"

Law gave the closed apartment door a grim look, fingers tightening around his sword's handle. "If it hitched a ride…it could bring its owner to us," he stated slowly. "It was tracking us as much as we were tracking it."

He wore a troubled expression. "I remember nothing of that trip to the woods. My memory is…punctured with holes. But my blade carried evidence of attacking it."

"What about the other layers?" Sanji then asked him skeptically. "Wouldn't they be affected?"

"Jean Bart said nothing when he removed them." Law looked to him with apology. "I'm sorry. I…I was aware of myself, but the aggression wasn't mine. Now that I'm free of it, I'm…rather embarrassed that I was so short-tempered."

Sanji watched him with some uncertainty, words fighting to leave his mouth. Reading this struggle, Law said gruffly, "Just say it. Your generation is one that can speak. So…say it."

"They…they were your feelings, right?" Before Law could gather breath to answer, Sanji sat up to add, "It's all right to express your feelings. I mean…we might not have all the right things to say, but I think that it's important to say _something_ …just like you said earlier, 'even if they are things you'll regret saying, just saying them would make everything clear'."

Law stared at him in silence, absorbing those words. He wasn't sure what to say, thoughts scattered to fumbling noises at the back of his tongue. But he nodded. In the end, he still couldn't speak.

 _Now's your chance_ , he heard himself say. Say _something_.

 _Like what_? He thought as a clumsy answer to himself.

"They were my feelings," he then admitted low, "because I want to make sure it's me you wanted to talk to, not…them."

"I knew who I wanted to talk to when I came over, this morning. And it wasn't them. _You_ were the one that left, you took on the trip with a goal – I wanted to know the details. _Your_ details. Also, it was to make sure you were okay. The things you described was…worrisome. _I_ was worried," Sanji admitted stiffly. "Robin keeps assuring me that you'd be fine, but I needed to see this for myself."

Sanji watched the twitching of his expression, and was vaguely amused by the concept of it. Since it was obvious it took tremendous effort, Sanji figured there was a lot of things the man had been thinking about. It gave him some comfort that this situation wasn't dismissed that easily. His mouth twitched ever so slightly, and Law caught sight of it.

Judging by the guilty color in his cheeks, Sanji decided to talk about it at another time; simply because there was indication that there would be another time to talk about it. That was a start; he'd had enough time to learn that the man often thought about the things to say before saying anything. Sanji had the feeling that none of it would be negative – he could see it in the man's troubled amber eyes.

 _You big wimp_ , he thought affectionately, unaware that the expression was showing on his face.

 _He's_ scared, he then realized with a start. _This man is scared because_ …!

Sanji felt overwhelmed with his own relief. He stood up before the other man, unsure of how to connect without it being awkward – or obvious. He took a few moments to look into embarrassed amber eyes, seeing the lack of telling black tinge he'd seen earlier. Law could feel his face heating from the intensity of the look, and ended up lowering his eyes in response.

Satisfied he saw nothing, Sanji reached out and adjusted the collar of Law's stiff white shirt. _Should I make a move_? he then wondered, judging the other man's response to him. He thought Law could hear the excited thundering of his heart, because Sanji was suddenly anxious and all his blood seemed to warm and pulse like lava due to excitement and nervous joy. After a moment's hesitation, he brushed his lips against the other man's jaw, and he felt Law stiffen like a statue upon reaction.

 _That's enough – don't give him a heart attack_ , he scolded himself, amusement causing his lips to twitch. But he lingered there, skin against skin, because he craved the physical interaction so badly that his mouth filled with the want of it. It took a lot of strength to pull back. _I hate his shitty good smell_ … _would it be creepy to admit aloud that I only want to breathe it in like it's oxygen_ …?

Sanji then slipped past him to retrieve his glasses from the kitchen counter, to busy his own hands and tame his own physical frustration. Law wore an unsatisfied expression, upset with himself and his own reaction. But he acknowledged the relief and gratitude he felt from the contact; like he normally did whenever Sanji chose to touch him.

"You sure you're not carrying anyone else?" he heard Sanji ask him, and Law looked over to see him fiddling with his glasses, casually moving away from the moment to politely give him room to relax. The gesture at his collar felt like an echo. It took a lot out of him to repress feeling any weakness so he could concentrate on the bigger picture. So Law considered what had happened with a grim frown. His skin tingled where Sanji's lips had brushed.

 _Focus_! he ordered of himself. _Stop acting like you're new to this. You're no fucking virgin_. With a huff, Law answered gruffly, "That creature is that spirit's most treasured item. If it's here, there's no doubt he'll follow."

"Did you speak with Robin, yet?"

"No. I've been here at home."

"She found some information."

Law furrowed his brow. "Is that where you were?"

"Yeah. I, uh…I made a new friend. That's who she's with. Teaching him how to be a ghost, I guess. He has a gleam. You can't take it from him," Sanji then added firmly. "He needs to be returned when she's finished with him."

"She took on some apprentice?"

At the sight of his shrug, Law wore a confused frown. He then looked away, straightening his collar and adjusting his shirt around his waist, ensuring it was tucked in properly. He found his tie on the chair where he'd been sitting earlier, snatching it up and pulling it around his collar "Let's go to the bar. I need to talk to the others."

"Did you find the extra bibles you need to bring with you?" Sanji asked skeptically, causing Law to pause in mid-movement. He was puzzled by the comment until he saw the other man's pointed look at his shirt and tie. He tossed the tie aside with a huff, hearing Penguin calling him a missionary.

 _Not quite America's Ass_ , Sanji thought with some mirth as the man turned to snatch a jacket from the nearby bedroom, _but close to it_.


	5. Chapter 5

**5: Oh, I've Got This Friend**

* * *

The trip to the bar was awkward. Sanji wondered what Law was thinking of, his face pensive with some thing he had yet to say. But the air felt different – _lighter_. Like some invisible weight had been lifted, but not removed. It was still present in the air between them, an uncomfortable third presence, but it was fairly obvious that it was for the positive. Sanji snatched glances at him from the corner of his eye; Law sneaked glances through the reflections of the windows they passed. Neither of them had the courage to bring it up, but Sanji thought about the kiss he gave, and Law felt the heat and weight of it lingering on his skin.

The business sign attached to the door told customers that the place was closed, but Jean Bart was behind the counter, with Penguin and Shachi sitting in front of him. Law slowed his step because Jean Bart was shrugging at him with a frown, and there were too many empty bottles on the counter.

Sanji thought something was off as he closed the door firmly behind him. He glanced about – the usual ghosts of the past were silently watching him as he entered. He wore an expression of discomfort at the weight of their stares – they never asked anything from him. Just seemed to stare at him like he were a ghost himself.

He focused towards the men at the counter, looking over expectant faces that never gave away expressions or breath.

"They took your advice," Jean Bart told Law as he approached. Law lifted his eyebrows as Sanji lingered back, cautiously putting space between himself and the group. There were tables with upside down chairs on top of them that gave him a wall of safety. He chose to lean against one brick wall, arms crossed over his chest to combat the AC chill in the air. "And their way of coping is excessive alcohol."

 _Do they really need an excuse to drink_? Sanji thought cynically.

Law leaned up against the counter with one hip while he observed the pair. Penguin had a jean vest on over a plain brown t-shirt over flared jeans, his thick black hair side-swiping his face in a brim-like feature that nearly covered the upper half of his face; Shachi's tie-dye poncho over corduroys and cowboy boots were accompanied with newly feathered hair and glasses with big, square frames.

"You both look like the fucking hippies I met years ago," Law commented with thinly disguised disgust.

The pair looked at him with annoyed scowls.

"I'm not the stupid hippie, Trafalgar," Penguin snapped at him. His voice was edgier, heavy with thinly held anger. Law remembered his time served in a thankless war; the reason behind his loosely flung fists.

Shachi flashed them the peace sign. His effort to avoid the draft had been a run to Canada. "Make love, not war."

"I still got all this shit going on in my head," Penguin murmured with a scowl. "My head _hurts_."

"Marijuana isn't what it used to be," Shachi said wistfully.

"Is it the appropriate time for this?" Jean Bart asked idly.

"I didn't say you had to do this right away," Law said before Penguin hit the counter with one fist.

" _Yeah_ , but I got sick of the guilt shit you kept laying on us every chance you got!"

"I have a bad craving for a Moonpie," Shachi said with a sigh. "Several of them. Preferably in succession…"

Law took in their moods. Both of them were deeply familiar to him – they were his friends, this was the state he'd met them. Every interaction he had with them came back like a remembered habit, but he had trouble accepting that they'd do this now. He had been positive the pair wouldn't have taken his suggestion literally.

As different as they were from the forms he'd been in the company of recently, he was troubled with the possibilities of failure in their modernized conditioning. He was having such a hard time with it himself – with Penguin's temper and Shachi's lack of confrontation, he was positive this rebellion was going to harm them in the long run.

He glanced nervously at Sanji, then refocused on them.

"Was anything said about the animal I encountered?"

"This technology shit is stupid," Penguin huffed, leaning on the counter with one elbow, fist propping his stubborn chin. "I can't figure it out."

Law looked at the older man behind the counter. "Jean Bart…reinstate them. _Fast_."

" _No_. I'm sick and tired of you telling us what to do all the time," Penguin interrupted Law, sliding off of his stool. He caught sight of Sanji standing nearby, and gestured at him. "Who the fuck is this guy? What's he doing here?"

"Hey, isn't that the waiter, man?" Shachi asked, surprised as he twisted in his stool.

Sanji exhaled heavily, unsure of what to say. Jean Bart fished the keys out from his pockets, leaving the counter. "I will get those boxes…"

" _NO_!" Penguin and Shachi shouted at him, causing Law to straighten away from the counter.

"Things can be _cool_ ," Shachi reassured Law with a slow wave of his hands. His slouchy shoulders and meandering movement looked comical to Sanji, who struggled to repress showing it in his expression. "It's like a whole new world out here. All this Jetson's shit is absolutely fascinating…kinda just bummed there aren't no floating cars, or buildings on stilts."

"I have a vague memory of things that have happened between then and now," Penguin said gruffly, arms crossed over his chest. "But I know I'm sick and tired of living a lie. Just let me be pissed off about it. I'm a fast learner, I'll learn shit real fast all over again."

"I just think that you should reconsider doing this at this time," Law said gently. "Because I didn't come back alone from the forest."

"Oh?" Jean Bart paused just at the end of the counter. "How so?"

"The animal caught a ride here. In me. Sooner or later, its owner will show up."

"You got your little ninja sword, do something about it," Penguin grumbled.

"I thought I did."

"How did you not know that it had?" Jean Bart asked Law pensively. "Surely you'd recognize an animal…"

"I wasn't…I wasn't aware of myself," Law mumbled, blushing ever so faintly.

"I noticed it," Sanji spoke up from the back, tucking his hands into his shorts pockets. "I saw the thing first."

"You got them ghost-seeing eyes, huh?" Shachi asked him with a whistle. "The government ever run any tests on you? Maybe they mutated you, man! Running all them weird tests on you, or sprinkling shit down on you from the sky! That's why you see special shit!"

Sanji stared at him with doubt. "… _No_."

Law cleared his throat delicately. "Shachi, speaking like that is…looked down upon, lately. It's not…the same."

"I like the look of the babes here, but they're kinda different, y'know?" Shachi then said with a distracted sigh.

"The babes _are_ different," Penguin agreed sullenly. "I don't know if that's good or not…"

"Law, what's a Walmart creature?"

Law looked to Jean Bart with confusion, the bigger man shrugging. "Unfortunately, we went to Walmart."

"They're so _aggressive_ ," Shachi whispered.

"It's not like we lost our fucking memories," Penguin continued, combing at his side-swiped hair, "but things are spotty and vague. Like a bad trip. I know how to do stuff, I know why I do them, but it's like I'm looking at myself from someone else's point of view, and can't believe that I did it. None of it is clear."

" _Acid_ ," Shachi whispered with delight. Then he frowned. " _No_ acid…"

Penguin turned and pointed at Sanji once more. "Now, I ask again – who the hell is this guy?"

"Long story," Law said gently, forcing his hand down. "For another time."

"I don't like the looks of him. He looks… _feminine_."

Sanji scowled at him. "Yeah, right, Bieber."

" _What'd you say to me_?"

Law settled Penguin's riling temper with a hand to the shoulder, patting him. "You were outside, you saw a little of how times have changed. _We're_ the ones that get the odd looks, now," Law assured him.

"Yeah, you look like someone working for the shitty KGB," Penguin then scoffed at him, sitting slowly on the stool.

"Who shot the President? They ever solve that?" Shachi asked with interest. He gasped. "Did _we_ do it?"

"I'd laugh, but I probably would get my ass kicked in the bathroom, later," Sanji said slowly. Jean Bart nodded to agree with him.

Hand squeezing Penguin's shoulder, Law said, "In the hopes that you regain just a section of your memories back, Sanji here can see and hear ghosts. He can make physical contact with them, as they can with him. He's worked with us for the past six months. Thanks to him, it was discovered that the animal had hitched a ride with me back here. Jean Bart, can you check on the layers I'd worn that night out?"

After the older man made his way into the basement, Law faced the others. "We were on the trail of a serial killer – long since gone, his death was presumed within the 1920's. He took his own life in a haunted forest – we were just there. Our group did not make any contact with him, but we did with his dog."

"We saw the file, we can read," Penguin muttered, refilling his mug. "It's the computers shit I can't really figure out…"

"It was such a cute dog. You could see the intelligence in his eyes," Shachi said sadly.

Law stared at them for a few moments, looking perplexed. Sanji wanted to laugh, so he covered his mouth with one hand to prevent from doing so. There was enough tension in the bar to choke on. He didn't want to draw any sort of negative attention his way – the pair of men that often shouted at him balefully were such strangers in their own standing, it was as if they were handpicked from some time-traveler's journey, deposited here in a modern day bar.

Law then asked, "Where in the hell did you guys get your clothing?"

"Thrift store, man. I saw my closet. I can't wear that shit."

"Prissy shit," Penguin agreed, slamming his alcohol down. "I was never a prissy man, Trafalgar."

 _None of that stuff was 'prissy'_ , Sanji thought to himself, leaning up against a wall with his arms crossed. _These guys are glorified masculine losers_.

"When did you make the decision to do this?" Law then asked them. "After we'd returned from our trip? None of you remember what happened that night?"

The pair shrugged.

"This is not helpful," Law muttered. "These things are capable of hurting us, and this one definitely will. Come to your senses. Return your layers for your protection."

Penguin stared up at him. "We've been doing this for some time, Trafalgar. You think we're pussies?"

" _Man_ ," Shachi sighed, chin on palm.

"You think we can't handle a little spook here and there? We've done this before without layers. _You_ think we're pussies."

Law sighed. He reached out and poured himself a drink, Sanji looking on with exasperation.

 _Shitty alcoholics_ , he thought. _All of them_.

Jean Bart returned from the basement, carrying a pile of lock boxes. They were loosely closed, so they rattled noisily as he deposited them onto the counter. The trio looked over at them as he opened up a few, watching their reactions. Law set his glass down with a startled look. Reaching in, he pulled up what looked like a burnt piece of paper.

Venturing close, Sanji watched as Jean Bart pulled out other treasured items that their stolen gleams clung to. The boxes themselves had contained the souls that the gleams belonged to – not seeing any reaction to them being opened caused Sanji immense curiosity.

"They're damaged," Law reported, showing Sanji a leather bracelet that looked as if someone held a match to it. "All of them. They're useless. The gleams are gone…"

"What devil did this?" Shachi asked incredulously, holding up a melted guitar pick. "Only Satan and his monsters could do this, right?"

"The only thing that can eat other gleams are demons," Penguin murmured with shock. "And that's to suck the energy right out from them to make themselves stronger…"

"Sounds like something Law would do, actually…"

Shachi looked at Law with suspicious eyes.

"I came back with them, right?" Law asked Jean Bart.

"Yes, they were in the same condition as they normally were when you removed them," the bigger man said with surprise. "There was nothing different about that night. You walked in, declared the animal dead, removed the layers; Penguin stored the audio information on Shachi's laptop, but it was too late to continue the investigation at that point. All of you drank yourselves to oblivion, and we were back on the road the next day. I hadn't noticed any difference to your personality."

"Perhaps it's time to consider a little AA?" Sanji suggested snidely.

"I've beaten men for talking less shit than that," Penguin threatened him.

"If it's on my lap top," Shachi said slowly, face pulled into intense concentration before looking down at his literal lap and gesturing, "then _where_ is it?"

"Jean Bart, _please_ , despite their claims, they will require their layers," Law said with exasperation, hand sweeping up to his hat to clutch the top.

Penguin finished off his drink and slammed down the empty glass. He twisted away from his stool, storming towards the door. "Forget it! I'm not doing that shit, anymore! I'm tired of being treated this way."

"Oh no, Penguin, come back," Shachi said theatrically before sniggering into his cup.

"What is going on, here?" Robin asked, startling both Law and Sanji with her sudden appearance near the bar counter, Luffy looking around himself with a lack of excitement. Penguin slammed his way out the doors, causing them to crack with force on their return.

"A slight setback," Law answered her grimly, unable to see Luffy at the moment.

"Hi, Sanji," Luffy greeted lifelessly, Sanji looking at him with concern.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I just…we passed a lot of restaurants along the way, and everything looked _so good_ …it just sucks I can't eat any of it…"

Sanji frowned at him. Robin slipped a gloved hand atop of Luffy's shoulder. "But it's not to say that we haven't learned a lot, is it?" she asked the boy.

"I mean, _I guess_ ," Luffy answered with a shrug. "It just feels like I got it rammed into me that I am actually a ghost. A dead guy."

"Those feelings will fade," Robin assured him without expression, so Luffy looked up at her with a puzzled frown.

After a few moments of consideration, Sanji approached the counter to speak low to Jean Bart. Jean Bart looked at his request with surprise, but he withdrew his own cellphone from underneath the counter and swiped his way through it.

"Are you speaking to me?" Law then asked Robin with confusion, hearing Sanji's voice rise and fade with a separate conversation.

Shachi looked over at Law. "Ah, I get it," Shachi then said with a laugh. "You're doing that talking to ghosts thing…."

Robin wore a perplexed expression. "What odd timing. Well, let me introduce you to someone. This is Luffy. Luffy, please say 'hi' to Trafalgar Law."

"Hi," Luffy said listlessly, Law attuning himself to that young voice before seeing the teenager materialize slowly next to Robin. The color of his gleam caught his eye, and Luffy startled at the sight of the man making eye contact with him. " _Hi_!"

"Where'd you find this kid?" Law asked Robin with bewilderment.

"I'm 17, _hello_? Practically a man!"

Law glared at him. "Your voice gives me a headache."

"Are all city people this rude?" Luffy asked incredulously, looking at Sanji.

"This is a different brand of rude," Sanji told him, Law frowning at him.

"I can already tell that I don't like him," Law decided.

"Trafalgar," Robin chided, gloved hand on Luffy's shoulder, "he's a delightful little person. Very useful. Learns fast. Is an excellent doer."

"Meaning, he doesn't think before he leaps."

"We had a talk about how you treat children," Jean Bart said as Shachi returned to drinking, only hearing one part of the conversation. "We agreed that you'd be _nicer_."

"I'm never going to live in a city if it's expected of me to be an absolute asshole to everyone I meet," Luffy said bitterly, shaking his head.

"You just met the wrong people," Sanji told him.

"That gleam is interesting," Law decided, signaling for a refill. Sanji covered his glass with his hand, frowning at him. Law stared at him for moment, then gave a disgusted frown, agreeing with a wave of his hand in Jean Bart's direction.

"What's a 'gleam'?" Luffy asked curiously.

"Leave it alone," Sanji told Law. "This is the kid we picked up during our travels."

"I mentioned nothing of this case to you," Law then said to Robin. "How did you get wind of it?"

With a tilt of her head, Robin answered, "You've many ghosts in this bar. Some of them have loose mouths."

"I'll have to remedy that…"

"I bet if I smoked enough," Shachi interrupted brightly, "I could hear these pretend voices, too!"

"You look like someone that's strolled right off from 'That 70's Show'," Luffy commented lightly, taking in Shachi's appearance with a wince. He measured the size of his glasses with his fingers, giving a low whistle. "Are you a ghost, too?"

"He isn't," Sanji answered him. "Just Law and I can see you and Robin."

"Oh. _Weird_. Why?"

"Law can only speak to ghosts that approach him. I can see all of you."

Luffy covered himself with embarrassment. "Some of my stuff is _private_."

" _That's not what I meant_!"

"Oh, you mean all of us ghosts!" Luffy then laughed noisily, slapping at Shachi's back but catching sight of his hand flying right through him. He straightened up with a discomforted noise, sliding his hands into his jacket pockets. Robin cleared her throat delicately, causing Luffy to perk up.

When he slapped Shachi's back again, he made the connection – Shachi spit out his drink in surprise, whirling around in his seat to see what had happened.

"I learned a few things," Luffy said with a delighted smile. "I can touch things, now."

"You have a treasured item of his?" Law then asked Robin skeptically. "How is he here?"

"It is very simple," Robin said with an expression of amusement. "Luffy loves his siblings – but he also loves food with as much heart."

Law looked at Luffy with such an expression that Jean Bart reached out and whapped his shoulder to scold him. Luffy frowned up at Law sullenly.

"Least I _liked_ life," the boy muttered. "Because it looks like you don't like anything. You remind me of this old history teacher I had in elementary school, who hated everything and took it out on us…"

"Flattery gets you nowhere with me," Law warned him sternly.

Jean Bart glanced out the window, then left the counter. When he returned, he was carrying a restaurant bag that he deposited in front of Sanji, Shachi looking over with interest. Sanji exhaled heavily, looking at the bag with a tortured expression before taking a seat on the stool.

He opened the bag, revealing a cardboard tray with two double patty hamburgers and a side of chicken wings and steak fries. Law stared at him with doubt while Shachi sucked in a line of drool. Luffy pushed his way to the counter, inhaling sharply.

" _Beautiful_!" he exclaimed, flapping his hands about. "Wow, I bet that tastes _so good_!"

"Is that for us? I don't eat that," Law warned Sanji skeptically, Sanji removing his jacket and setting that aside. After a few moments of staring at the tray, Luffy whooping with excitement, Sanji sighed heavily.

"How does transferring a gleam outside of their treasured item work?" Sanji asked Law listlessly. "Do you just…touch them?"

"What are you doing?"

"Transfer him to me."

Law stared at him incredulously, looking from Luffy to him, then grew irritated. " _No_. You owe absolutely nothing to this child!"

Jean Bart braced himself against the counter, exhaling. "Might be a good idea, anyway," he murmured to Law. "If that thing is on the loose, an extra layer of protection on someone that is most affected could be useful."

"It's only for the meal, not for a lengthy amount of time," Sanji snapped. " _Just_ for the meal. Remove him afterward."

"Maybe three to five hours after," Robin advised, cutting in. "Sanji is still in the recovery process."

"Three to five hours after," Sanji agreed, wearing a shameful frown. "Convince me with exercise, not laxatives."

" _Wait_ ," Shachi spoke up with surprise, "you're not naturally thin? I had a girlfriend once that ate boxes of that stuff!"

Absolutely clueless, Law wasn't sure how to process that information. Luffy was confused, unsure of what he was hearing. After some tense consideration, Law grabbed hold of Luffy's arm, the teen looking at him with a start. But it wasn't his limb he was holding onto – in a moment, that inky black maroon substance that he glowed with curled into the palm of Law's hand like a flashing orb. He held it for a moment, considering the strength of the kid's gleam while Sanji watched him pensively, tense against the counter.

Robin cleared her throat. With an irritated expression, Law pushed the orb into Sanji's chest. The thin man gave a violent shiver, but he immediately relaxed with a heave of breath right after. It was startling – in that moment, Law smelled someone else's breath.

Law poured himself a drink as Sanji removed his glasses, blinking tightly as he looked around himself. Once he spied the food, he grabbed one hamburger with both hands and began eating with absolute relish.

" _Oh, fuck_ ," he cried, his mouth full, "this is _so good_!"

"That's so weird," Shachi murmured as Sanji crammed most of the hamburger into his mouth, chewing noisily. "It's like I'm looking at something so wrong, here…"

" _Oh God_ \- ! _So good_! I haven't ate in a million years, this is awesome!"

"This is fucking disgusting," Law muttered, Sanji wiping his hands on his shorts.

"I can taste _everything_!" Sanji cried with joy, hands waving about. His chin and mouth were greasy and stained with sauce. "It's like I'm alive all over again!"

Law pushed away from the counter while Sanji crammed fries into his mouth, chewing sloppily. He whirled in his seat, waving some chicken wings about.

"You want some? I can share with you a piece?"

" _Fuck off_."

Robin tutted as Law strode into the employees' office, slamming the door behind him.

" _Mooooooody_ ," Shachi commented lightly, wearing a skeptical expression. "Everyone's moody around here. Jean Bart – weed."

"No weed. That's the orders," Jean Bart told him with a frown.

"Pigs…"

"What's his problem? Doesn't he want me to eat?" Sanji asked incredulously, cramming one wing into his mouth, chewing and sucking until all he pulled out was a stained bone. He wore a look of pleasure; despite speaking with Sanji's voice, his expression wasn't Sanji's.

: :

Law sat down with a heavy exhale in the chair near the wall. The office was heavily silent, still with too much AC and cramped with material items. His anger was confused. Robin already stood there without making a sound, waiting for him to notice her.

"How productive is this show of anger?" she asked curiously. "Will it change anything?"

"…No," Law answered tightly. He avoided looking at her. "But going that far for a stupid, useless ghost - ! For someone he doesn't even know - !"

Robin understood then why Law was angry. It wasn't something she could help. "He's not useless. He has a very strong gleam," Robin said lightly.

"I don't understand his issues with food," Law started off slowly, speaking of Sanji, "but forcing himself to eat something that he doesn't normally eat – "

"Do not vent about it to me. _He's_ the one that should hear it from you," Robin said with firm warning.

Law exhaled heavily, glaring off at the computers at the desk.

Robin nodded. "Well then. Would you like to hear more of the information I found?"

"…Sure."

"Gin was a very evil man. None of his victims have anything to match an MO, other than he chose them to kill them senselessly. Men, women, children – it didn't matter. It was only killing, nothing more. He dismembered bodies and left them where they could be found. He started off with killing farm animals, then prostitutes, then outlaws, common men – I don't understand why he has to be brought back, now."

"It's just a job. He must have a gleam for how often he's seen..."

"You cannot use that gleam, Trafalgar. I forbid it."

"I'd like to remove it, actually. I am not the only one out there that knows how to use gleams," Law clarified. "Anyone can get the wrong idea if they don't have the experience attached to it."

Robin gave a faint smile. She suspected the man's motives; despite his cantankerous attitude and actions, Law's reasoning for capturing certain gleams were telling. "Have you noticed that other people can do what you can?"

"I haven't met anyone else, but…I learned it from somewhere. From someone. I'm sure there are others that can take these things and misappropriate them."

"You remember your first time?"

"Unfortunately."

When he didn't offer the story, Robin decided to move on. "That dog of his was present during his killings. More than likely, it'll guide him to you to help his master. To contain the man, you'll have to contain the animal."

"Or kill it."

"But that didn't work now, did it? I've heard word of an angry animal roaming the streets, terrorizing the ghosts," Robin said lightly. "I know your kind has encountered vengeful, angry spirits that can wreak havoc on the living, and I have fair confidence in your exorcising skills. But it always helps to be prepared."

Law then stilled. "Perhaps he doesn't have to arrive…maybe he already has. Using his animal…"

"I will be leaving, soon," Robin then added, fiddling with some paperwork left behind on the desk, causing pages to rustle noisily. "I've developed an unhealthy attachment, and find it prudent to therefore move along before I start remembering more of unnecessary emotions."

Law looked at her with a start. "Why is that wrong?"

"I've thrived for years, Law," she said. "Any more information than that is unnecessary to share."

Law nodded to show that he acknowledged this. "Well…you'll be missed."

"What about you?"

"…What about me?"

"What will you do, now? Now that it's brought to your attention how painful it is to continue living long after your beloved has died, have you decided to continue living or will you continue to live a lie under the impression of someone else?"

He gave a limp shrug in response. It wasn't the answer Robin was looking for, but it gave her pivotal commitment to her resolve. She was too attached.

Robin examined the walls with posters, the stolen street signs that his crew had inserted. "As a woman, my feelings are…conflicted. I want to side with the one I trust, and yet I want to lend a sympathetic ear to one I've started to care for. These things…will allow me to perish if I continue to remember just how painful they are. That's how you've survived, right? Locked down your feelings so that they can't hurt."

Law said nothing. He recognized that she was baiting him, and he didn't want to give. Robin tipped her head, hat bowing with the movement. "Be nice to the kid. He'll come in handy."

Law sighed noisily.

She gave him a firm look. Her absence was then noted in the silence lingering after. Law leaned back in his chair, glaring at the ceiling. He was there for some time until the door opened, and Sanji peeked in cautiously. He licked his fingers messily; wearing an expression that wasn't ever his to have. It made Law's skin curdle.

"Is something wrong?" Sanji asked. His voice had changed – it was lighter, a higher pitch to take on that of a younger male. Even his eyes were rounded, facial muscles held at a more relaxed state. Once his fingers were clean, he started wiping his face with the sleeve of his sweater.

Law remembered when Sanji had stolen off with Eustess – he knew it right away. The man's entire body language had changed, as well as the set of his mouth, the rigidity in his jaw. So seeing the ghost of the teen in Sanji's form – taking over with a more confident stance with bigger eyes, a careless smile – allowed Law to see a whole new person.

Law looked at him with disgust. "Go wash your hands in the bathroom."

"We're friends, right?"

" _Friends_ ," Law repeated, rolling his eyes to the ceiling. Then he stilled, looking at Sanji once more to see what Luffy would latch onto. What things did Sanji worry about when he wasn't showing them? Would Luffy be influenced by them? The thought of being touched or spoken to by _that kid_ made him shiver with disgust.

"Because I feel like you're my moody friend, and I need to be nicer to you, because you're traumatized. Take things slow and easy, so I don't scare you off," Sanji said, letting himself in. He gaped at the office equipment with some excitement while Law wondered what he meant by that. " _Wow_ , what is this place? Some special crime lab, or something?"

"It's none of your business."

"You're always so mean. I mean…you're rude. All you city people are so rude. Hey," Sanji then said, seating himself in one of the rolling chairs, twisting around in one quick motion before facing him. "so, if you guys are ghost hunters, can you find this ghost?"

"What do you know about him?"

"Robin told me about him. I think I'm going to be okay, Law," Sanji assured him. "I was pretty strong, and – "

"Not if you're dead."

"Besides _that_ ," Sanji scoffed, waving a hand at him. "I think anybody would've been dead by what made me dead, anyway. I wasn't wearing my seat belt. So, about this ghost guy…how strong is he?"

"I haven't met him yet."

"I've always had this interest in meeting new people, and this is a super creative way to do it! Add in the fact that we're a regular mystery gang - !"

"We're not a gang!"

Sanji combed through his loose hair with sticky fingers, causing an unflattering mess of frizzy curls. He then stilled, wincing with a hand to his stomach. "Oh, man… _wow_. In one end, out the other!"

" _For fuck's sake_ …!"

Sanji darted off, yelping about an emergency. In the silence left behind, Law shook his head, then stood up from the chair to look for a lock box.


	6. Chapter 6

**6: A Loveless Romantic**

* * *

"Capturing a gleam takes a reasonable amount of practice," Law said later that evening, holding up a lock box with a number written atop of the lid in Penguin's angry scrawl. It rattled ever so slightly in his hands.

Penguin scoffed from the kitchen table, Shachi's head bowed over his own cellphone as he concentrated on re-learning how to use it. The group had brought Sanji home and removed Luffy from the blond by luring him from Sanji with a hamburger. Law didn't give him time to manifest as a ghost – just captured his gleam that he then trapped inside of the lockbox with the hamburger.

Jean Bart was down in the street waiting for them; he assured them to take their time, patting a twelve-pack sitting on the floor by the passenger seat. When Sanji was aware of himself once more, he was chagrined to see the company he was in, but Law was giving an impromptu lesson about how to use gleams correctly. Lecturing him, apparently.

"The first time I was introduced to it, I allowed the gleams to manipulate my every action and thought. Under their influence, I was allowing them to think everything for me. At the time, I questioned whether or not I was this person in the first place. I saw things where I hadn't known they were, considering how well they knew an area. All I had to do to pull in a gleam was to invite its presence over mine. A touch, an emotional or mental understanding. That was how you were able to pull in Eustess, wasn't it?"

Sanji frowned up at him from the couch. He was uncomfortable, bloated and heavy, and his heart was racing soundly. The intake of so many calories at one time left him ill, and all he wanted to do was panic about it. After discovering the state of his clothes, he'd changed into overalls and a white t-shirt that had a cut-out collar.

The lock box in Law's hands shifted with enough force to have Law catch it quickly within both hands.

"Let him out," Sanji muttered tiredly. "He's just a shitty kid, he doesn't understand, yet…"

"All he has to do is behave," Law said with warning. After a moment, he added, "And you, too."

Sanji had come to realize that Law was treating him differently. Holding back – there was anger in his eyes and in his tone, and Sanji wasn't sure what it meant.

"Gleam that strong won't ka-tow to anybody using force over it," Penguin stated crossly. "That ghost is about as strong as Eustess was."

"Eustess was a scary guy," Shachi whispered.

"You remember him?" Law asked them curiously, the lock box shaking violently in his hands.

"I know we were under the influence of our preferred collection," Penguin said impatiently, "but _that_ one stood out in my memory because of whom he was. A violent, scary guy. He rattled other ghosts' teeth without them being aware of being hit in the first place."

"And this is why we're set to find the new guy," Law murmured. "Because of his potential impact. The more I learn of him, the more understandable it is to get rid of him."

" _Who_ sent us to find him in the first place?"

" _Your_ friends on the internet, Penguin."

"…Ah…so this shit is _my_ fault…"

"If he's been there for years, what's the point of bothering the man now?" Shachi asked curiously, wiggling his nose to straighten his glasses as he looked up. He blinked heavily from behind the hideously large lenses. "He occupied a haunted forest where people go to die – just let him live it out there! He's not harming anything…"

"Anyone with the knowledge of how to use gleams could mistreat this violent power of his," Law answered him impatiently. "The fact that another ghost hunting group from the world wide… _the internet_ …where Penguin received the information from – "

"Hey, hey, hey," Penguin interrupted, finger wagging, "Don't start shit, Trafalgar! I already admitted this was my fault!"

"They cool, man?" Shachi asked curiously. "Those other guys, they cool?"

"We've never met them. Penguin coordinated the hunt with their guidance through phone calls and…DM's…?"

"Oh, fuck, so it's _all my fault_?" Penguin snarled, crossing his arms over his chest.

"It was a good thing," Law assured him patiently, "because now that we're aware of this evil person, we can rid of him permanently before someone else thinks to invite his gleam for unfathomable purposes."

"…You're welcome." After some consideration, Penguin asked tentatively, "If they referred us to it – because I'm not calling it a man – then why would they? Was it already a problem?"

"They were aware of our feats. On…on the forum you manned."

" _Aghhh_!" Penguin exclaimed with exasperation, dragging his hands down his face. "It all goes back to the freaking computer!"

" _Science_!" Shachi boomed, then snickered, slinking low in his chair.

"Which is why I suggest you…" Law trailed off, then looked to Sanji. "You didn't notice anything unusual about my personality, other than the dog?"

Sanji shook his head. "No."

Law wore an expression of worry, holding hard onto the lockbox with both hands as his friends watched him with some thoughtful expressions.

"Why don't you go talk to Corazon?" Sanji then suggested gently. "He's the one that knows shit about you best. He could tell if something more was off."

"The _clown_ ," Penguin whispered as Shachi looked frightened. Both of them looked rather nervous, Sanji watching them with a skeptical expression.

"You guys are afraid of clowns?" he asked.

" _Shut up_!"

" _Don't mock a man's fears_!"

Sanji rolled his eyes. Law nodded, setting the lock box down onto the coffee table. "I'll do that."

"This piece of shit thing," Sanji then said slowly, picking up his phone to find the photo that was sent to him. He turned it around to show Law. "If it had taken the gleams you were using, it hasn't been feeding off the shit around him."

Law studied the photo with confusion, then took the steps necessary to take the phone from him. Giving him a cautious look, Sanji asked, "You…don't remember sending that?"

Flustered, Law rubbed his face. He examined the picture once more, then gave the phone back. "Capturing ghosts on…devices are a rare event. These are…astoundingly clear."

"You…I was sent a photo of the shitty dog, as a…I don't know, proof of what you were doing," Sanji said awkwardly. He shifted on the couch to sit at the edge of it, examining the photo once more and noting the particular details as he'd seen them that night.

In that moment, watching him, Law was hit with a memory of the waiter squinting at a piece of paper, cigarette caught between his teeth. Both these men could have been the same person – with the same squinting look, the concentrative frown on the lips – even wearing the same shoulder hunch. But instead of being hit with pain – the warmth of affection hit so hard that it didn't occur to Law why Sanji was squinting in the first place. He had the man's glasses tucked inside his jacket pocket.

It nearly took his breath away to realize that it didn't hurt so much, anymore.

Unaware of this scrutiny, Sanji then gave Law a startled look. "What if you were being sent a clue?"

Law struggled to concentrate, swallowing hard to get his focus back. But as Penguin and Shachi watched with thoughtful frowns, he couldn't quite reveal anything. It was ingrained in him, a habit, to keep relationships secret. It wasn't so open back then as it was now – he glanced at the two men to judge their characters, but they'd _known_ the waiter. They'd _known_ the relationship that he and Law had shared, but it was taken as close, uncomfortable friendship. It was _known_ , not said. He wasn't sure how the men would take to it, now. But surely they already had a clue.

He was uncomfortable with his feelings showing on his face. He was uncomfortable saying anything at all.

"You saw the dog," Penguin verified slowly, "and sent that guy a picture of it?"

"No, not _him_ ," Shachi explained. "The other guy. Remember him?"

"Oh…yeah…" Penguin murmured, wearing a confused expression. "I remember bits and pieces of him being totally annoying."

"I remember the other guy," Shachi then whispered, looking surprised that he did. "Because he was such a beatnik."

" _Beatnik_ ," Penguin echoed. "I feel angry for some reason just thinking about his clothes…"

Sanji waved off their conversation and locked his phone, putting that aside. He returned his attention to Law. "Is there a clue? I mean…I'm still getting used to the role, I'm not seeing these things like you would. You have to look at it from the point of view as a ghost hunter, I guess. There are ghosts present in the photo with the dog – yet those gleams you used are gone. So…putting two and two together…"

"He wasn't feeding off the negative energy left behind," Law murmured slowly, struggling to think. He paused. "I had a suspicion that perhaps he – the dog – he wasn't alone. What if they'd both piggy-backed upon each other…?"

"What was this lecture earlier about allowing the gleams to manipulate your every action and thought? Under their influence, you allowed them to think everything for you? I vaguely remember you saying something like that," Penguin asked in a slightly snarky tone. Sanji watched Law blush ever so faintly. He ducked his head and wore an uncomfortable look before shooting Penguin a grim frown. Sanji furrowed his brow, reviewing his own memory of that morning. _Had he missed seeing something?_

"Having no previous contact with the man, I….have no idea how he could influence me," Law mumbled.

"Demonic entities feed off the living's fear and of the ghosts around it," Penguin started when Shachi intervened quickly with, "First off, fellows, we need to find out why that group referred us in the first place. What happened with them to want to contact us dudes that can get rid of it?"

"Start from square one!" he continued, rising from the chair while Penguin scowled at him. He held his cellphone out to Sanji. "Here, young child, find this information for us. I don't know what I'm doing, and somehow, I've been looking at something called _hentai_ all this time and I still don't understand it. I'm uncomfortably aroused."

"You're such a _freak_ ," Penguin exclaimed, looking at his friend with dismay while Shachi snickered.

Sanji saw that Shachi had his Twitter feed up – the hashtag revealed thread after thread of pictures and proclamations for the online art that made his eyebrows lift.

"What is Penguin's Twitter handle?"

All of them stared back at him with puzzled expressions, Sanji giving them impatient looks. He held a hand out for Penguin's phone, and the man sullenly gave it over. He was halted by the fact that there was a lock screen in place. He gave it back and returned his attention to Shachi's with a heaving sigh, finger scrolling and tapping away impatiently.

Law sat slowly at the edge of the couch, clenched hands together to rest against his forehead. "Considering the oddities right now," he said low, "I still ask that you are re-layered. Jean Bart can help you with it."

"With the amount destroyed, will there be enough to distribute amongst the three of us?" Penguin asked crossly.

Sanji glanced at Law. "Is he possessed, or is this is real shitty brown personality?"

"Hey, brow boy, I don't know what you're insinuating, but I - !"

"We were all troubled men for our time," Law explained to Sanji over Penguin's rising snarl. Since Sanji was warned previously, he shrugged. He then perked up.

"I found his handle," he said with relief, then searched the man's DM's. Once he found the message inviting the group to investigate the forest, he located the sender's profile and examined the brief bio. "'We specialize in spooks, demons, and aliens! Contact us for more info.' Well…I'll send them a message to call Penguin's phone. You should be the one to talk to them."

" _I'll_ be the volunteer," Shachi offered, hand up. "I'm the nice one."

"It's _my_ phone," Penguin reminded them bitterly as Sanji sent the message. "It should be my responsibility!"

"Can't you just force it?" Sanji asked Law tentatively. "Hold them down and force the layers they've been using to - !"

"I can't just _force_ it. It has to be accepted," Law said. Shachi and Penguin were arguing over the man's phone, holding a tug of war over the kitchen table. He pulled out his phone, and swiped through it. Sanji covered his mouth delicately with one hand, trying to repress any mirth because with his squinting eyes and confused hold of his mouth, Law looked much older than his twenty-six years; like an old man bewildered by the convenient tech in his hand. Once he pulled up the picture his other selves had sent Sanji, Law studied it.

"If he was so bloodthirsty," he murmured thoughtfully, enlarging the picture to examine various details, "he wouldn't have stopped. He destroyed the gleams I'd used – he knows what they are. If only I could remember exactly what happened that night – were they that careless?"

"You weren't careless," Sanji told him softly, feeling awkward. _Who did he speak of when addressing Law_? "You were careful. It's not like…you were irresponsible. Either of you. So if you – _he_ – sent me this picture…there's something in it asides the dog that he was attempting to show you. Not me. _You_."

"They were reaching out to communicate with you," Law muttered bitterly.

"Maybe. _But_. Even now, don't gleams work with something that's already ingrained in you? You plan ahead. Use irritatingly small details to get your way. So this is a detail," Sanji insisted, tapping on his phone. Law fiddled with the phone, noticed the two men wrestling for Penguin's phone, then glanced at Sanji.

Speaking low, he said, "Luffy mentioned that…you needed to be nicer to me, because I'm…traumatized. You had to take things slow and easy with me so that you don't scare me off. What does that mean?"

Sanji gave him a bewildered look, unable to recall the conversation. But as he thought about it, he could see vague images in which he was addressing Law so lightly and casually – seeing it from a third person's point of view. Speaking with a voice that wasn't actually his. He swallowed tightly, a little embarrassed that this was revealed.

"Well, he must've captured some of my insecurities," he replied. "You were traumatized. Right? With…with _his_ death. That's not…that's not news. And…taking things slow and easy, isn't it the right thing to do? Times are different, and you're still stuck in yours. I…if I don't…do this the right way, of course…of course you'd get nervous. I…I'm trying to keep you from running away."

Law considered his nervous words, observing the way Sanji's fingers entwined and loosened then clenched again with anxiety. Penguin's phone was ringing at that moment, and both men were trying to swipe at the same time over the screen, their fighting causing the chairs and table to crash over. For that moment he tuned them out, running the words over and over through his thoughts and attuned to Sanji's anxious hands.

He swallowed hard as Penguin's phone fell onto the floor, clattering underneath the nearby throw rug. Both of them landed there, grappling for it.

Law looked back at Sanji, giving a nod. "Thank you for your consideration."

He went for the phone, snatching it out of fighting hands to see that the screen was unlocked to allow for the call. Sanji watched after him with a mystified expression, unsure of what Law meant. His expression gave away nothing and his tone wasn't exactly helpful, either. Law answered the phone briskly, introduced himself, and promptly asked for the speaker to speak up.

Sanji looked at the picture of the dog once more, puzzled by the content. Robin had walked the room that night, and he remembered seeing her laughing and talking with glass in hand. The various subjects she spoke with talked comfortably with her, but every time he glanced at her, it seemed like only friendly conversation they were sharing. She never told him what she'd found out – but that was Robin. If one didn't ask the right questions, she didn't have an outright answer.

He hopped up from the couch and went to his room, rummaging through his nightstand drawer for the bullet. It was hard to see without his glasses – he wondered where they were. He had a spare set in their box in the back of the drawer, so he retrieved those, cleaned them hastily with the edge of a bedsheet, then slipped them on. The older prescription had him wincing – but the thicker frames with chewed ends would just have to do. He then resumed looking for the bullet. He examined it for a few moments, then pushed it into his pocket. He walked back out to hear Law confirming some information before hanging up. Penguin and Shachi watched him warily from the floor, sitting like scolded children with their hands in their laps.

"The reason they brought him to our attention was that upon one of those hunts, they captured EVPs of a ghost that was frightened of this man. That ghost claimed Gin wasn't a ghost – but a demonic entity. Gin was real – his crimes were real. Ghosts are capable of killing the living, we know this. But this one is also capable of killing other ghosts." Law then paused, furrowing his brow. "This animal…I have a strong feeling that the animal itself is the spirit we're looking for. Not the man."

Shachi exhaled with relief. "That's good to hear. I totally was hoping we wouldn't have to hurt the dog. I like dogs."

Sanji pulled his phone up to look at the picture once more, pushing his frames up his nose as they slipped. The body missing its head was pressed up against the tree trunk – the hanging persons that were visible within the flashing light of lightening pulled his attention. The more he looked, the more he realized that their hands were outstretched towards the trunks of the trees they were hanging from. Their limbs weren't random branches – the ghosts themselves were trying to hide from the "puppy" facing the camera.

The human hands in his memory sprang forward – they were those of a man. Blackened and scarred, but with the sound of crackling ice present when Sanji had kicked them. It wasn't an animal – ghosts didn't mutate into otherworldly creatures, so he was positive animals couldn't, either. Almost at the same time, Law looked over at him with the same expression Sanji was wearing. He reached for his hat and coat.

"Stay here," he instructed the men sitting on the floor. He then pointed at Sanji. "With him. None of you are to leave this room."

" _WHAT_?" the three cried out collectively.

"I'm going to go see Corazon – I don't trust myself at this moment, and this case has grown progressively alarming," Law said, shrugging on his black coat and zipping up. He grabbed his sword from nearby, looking down at the rattling lock box on the floor. He used his sword case to point to Sanji. "Deal with that mess, there."

Once the door slammed shut behind him, the three looked at each other with rising displeasure.

"He's always leaving us behind!" Penguin complained, rising to his feet.

"Thank god, because I get weak within a whisper of danger," Shachi said with a sigh, bracing himself with elbows on the floor.

"I know I'm stupid in the face of the things you guys do, but I see these things better than you all," Sanji muttered, using his nose to wiggle his glasses back into place. He picked up the lockbox with Luffy inside of it, and tried to open it. "He has the damn key…"

"I got a spare, man," Shachi assured him, pulling at the thick collection of keys he had in his back pocket. Penguin gave him an odd look when a cigarette case followed that, Shachi hastily shoving that back. "We can find the key together! Like a team."

"How do you sit with all of that?" Penguin asked him.

"Oh, this big thing covers everything I do. I lean to the side, a bit. Rest it all on one cheek. Didn't want them all jingling on me, because what if we run from the cops? I'll give us all away…" Shachi shrugged as Sanji and Penguin stared at him silently before looking in other directions.

Before any of them could move again, there were small knocks on the door. Penguin answered it after a brief glance through the peephole, giving a confused tilt of his head. Law stood there solemnly, his face grave and his fists bunched at his sides. "Change of plans. We need to leave. _Now_."

All of them wore expressions of confusion, but Penguin noticed Law's apprehensive glances around them. He slid his phone back into his pocket and patted it for assurance. "You okay, man?" he asked. Law nodded once to indicate that he was.

Sanji grabbed his messenger bag and stuffed his necessary items in there. He stuffed Luffy inside, giving the box a reassuring pat. He then drew the bag over one shoulder, Shachi and Penguin making their way past them to the elevator. At that moment, pushing his glasses up with the back of his hand, Sanji wondered what the waiter thought of all this – was he ever involved in their hunts?

 _Was it polite to inquire of an ex?_ he wondered with vague discomfort. He wanted to know – his curiosity ate at him with both shame and guilt.

Law shut the door behind him, and said low, "We'll take the stairs."

" _Why_?" Sanji asked him with confusion.

"Exercise," Law murmured, urging him toward the stairway with hand gesturing for him to walk, and Sanji looked over to the opening elevator doors with vexation. Penguin and Shachi walked in, but the opened doors showed Sanji the sight of the woman with the groceries, sprawled out in pieces against the back wall. The walls and floor were splattered with blood and innards – but they were slowly fading away, like an invisible hand was erasing the evidence. She was staring out into the hallway sightlessly – missing her lower jaw. Her groceries faded slowly, eventually evaporating without fanfare as the doors closed.

"You actually did it," Sanji commented dully, struck by the image as Law opened the stairway door. Sanji then thought of the way Wolf had disappeared after being ripped in half by the beast, comparing the image to the ashes that were often left behind when Law struck down an otherworldly soul.

He then looked at Law with fright. Law looked at him, jaw set. Before he could say anything, Penguin slammed into him – or, he would have if he could touch him. The man's heavier body slammed and connected with Sanji, knocking them both into the stairwell. They hit the stairs with hard thumps and tosses, coming to the landing with an entanglement of limbs and grunts. Looking up, Penguin watched as Law frowned heavily before stepping soundlessly out of sight from the stairway.

" _OW_!" Sanji exclaimed noisily, looking at Penguin with panic before looking for Law. His glasses were gone – broken and bent atop of a stair. Bewildered, he stood up with effort as Penguin winced and touched his ribs. " _What happened_?"

"Little differences, stupid," Penguin grunted as he used the wall to pick himself out. " _Our_ Law left with his sword – this one didn't have it. Ghosts have a difficult time mimicking that thing. This doppelganger couldn't take a step into the apartment – you got spells up, or something?"

"… _No_?" Sanji wheezed, incredulous at this level of manipulation. He brushed himself off, looking up at the stairway with a hard squint once more. Both of them touched places that ached and hurt, the stairs unforgiving. "This thing is _that_ intelligent…?"

"Back to the apartment," Penguin said hastily, urging him up the stairs. Both of them had trouble doing so, wincing and cringing with each step, hand railings held with clenching fingers. "Back to the apartment, he can't enter until he gives us the password."

"He separated me from you guys," Sanji said with a start. He froze in mid-step, numb while his mind whirled from the encounter. That phrase ran through his mind continuously, horrified at what could have happened.

"The fact we could see it without you guys to tell us what we're looking at says a lot about its strength," Penguin said tightly. "It's a strong entity. It couldn't enter your apartment – we're just gonna stay there until he gets back."

"What if he's attacked? Someone has to be there to watch over him!"

"I'll call Jean Bart – more than likely, Law had him drive him to see the clown – _hey_!"

Sanji hurried down the stairs, digging into his bag for his phone. He ignored Penguin's shouts, feeling panicked. Once he was outside, he searched the street for the white van while calling Law's phone. When he heard the older man's voice answer, he heaved a breath of relief.

"Come get me," he demanded, struggling to catch his breath.


	7. Chapter 7

**7: All That He Really Wants**

* * *

The swirling black mass of shadows that was Law's mentor was sitting on the stairs of the museum when Jean Bart pulled up in the parking lot. From the distance, if he squinted, Sanji could see the cigarette smoke that he often smelled. Ghosts with a gleam could chose to show themselves, and he'd only seen the man in a photograph Law kept in a locket. Jean Bart put the van in park, and while the area was littered with chattering visitors and people taking advantage of the area's restaurants and tourist trap-type shops, it seemed strange to see the living pass through the swirling mass like it were nothing. Sanji could hear a couple of complaints about the cigarette smoke they passed through, but the ghost wasn't given any more attention than that.

"It's about time," Sanji heard Corazon say crankily as they approached. The never-ending swirls of shadow rose and curved with the ghost's figure. Sanji wondered what Law saw when the older man looked at him. He glanced about to see if anyone was paying any attention to them – the only looks shot their way were on the taller man next to him.

Sanji couldn't help but glance up at him as well, sliding his hands into his pockets with a hunch of his shoulders. _Of course_ attention would be drawn to those pleasing facial lines, the precise grooming, and the presentation of a well dressed figure with obvious tattoos; _of course_ a closer look would be the want into those serious amber eyes. The man was a looker, himself or not – and instead of making him feel insecure and hopeless, it made Sanji feel good because he already had pleasing knowledge of the man's obvious – and not obvious – places. ( _Yeah, I fucked him. And he_ liked _it_!)

In spite of the conversation being held, Sanji's only thought at the moment was, I'm _the one standing next to him_.

"What are you looking all creepy for?" Corazon asked him suddenly, startling Sanji out of his thoughts.

He jerked ever so slightly, grasping his bag. " _What_? It's my face. I can't help what my face looks like!" he snapped, reddening completely.

He could feel both of their bewildered stares on him so he kept his attention diverted. His bag jumped, causing him to press both hands on it against his hip.

"Anyway," Corazon resumed blithely, "as I was saying, I couldn't help but notice the terror casted upon the streets, attacking _us_. Their screams are different from those of the living – the living can't hear them. So…what'd you do?"

"I might have allowed a demonic entity loose," Law answered gravely, noticing Sanji's efforts with the box. He withdrew a key from his inside jacket pocket – touching the glasses he had within. So he gave them both over to Sanji, who took them gratefully. "I wasn't aware that I had, and now…now I appeal to you. Is there anything strange about my character that might prelude to a possible possession?"

"I don't see anything different," Corazon answered with snobbish disdain.

Law watched the curving shadows build and loosen before resuming their continuous swirl. "Yet, you're not revealing yourself to me."

"I'm _shy_. Asides that, who is this piece of shit?"

Luffy reappeared next to Sanji with a shout, fists in the air. The hamburger spilled out messily onto the sidewalk, causing Sanji to wince and crouch to pick it up and throw it away in a nearby trash receptacle. Luffy adjusted his hat, pulling the brim over his eyes, then turned to Law furiously. Law's mouth curled with disdain as he looked down at the teenager, Sanji then sweeping his glasses on with a breath of relief.

"I'm going to kick your ass," Luffy vowed, fist cocked.

"You can't even touch me," Law returned coldly. Sure enough, Luffy's fists swept through him as he flung them, Sanji giving Law an impatient look and coming between them to push Luffy back a few steps.

"You locked me into a box! Said all this shit – I can hear all of that, you know!" Luffy shouted at him, then looked at Sanji with surprise once he realized the blonde's hands on him. Sanji looked around nervously, knowing his actions looked odd to those looking. But before anything could be said, a swirl of black swept out and ensnared the boy's hands within him, jerking him to the side.

"You touch the living, you cause them injury with your aggression," Corazon snapped at the boy, who looked up at his creation with a wide-eyed gasp. "And if you touch _my kid,_ I will render you with pain you'll feel for the rest of your miserable afterlife!"

"I'm not your kid," Law muttered tiredly.

Sanji stared at him for several seconds, unsure if he'd seen what he'd seen. But Corazon released Luffy quickly, Luffy adjusting his jacket and hat as he looked mulishly at the living. With a quick dart of black smoke, Corazon slapped Law aside of the head. As his head snapped to the side, Sanji saw the flicker of people lost in the movement, appearing moments before rebinding themselves back into the man.

Law retrieved his hat and rubbed at his scalp. Sanji crossed his arms over his chest and tutted while Corazon exhaled enough smoke to cause Luffy to cough noisily.

"They're older gleams, the oldest of the supply I've had on stock," Law told Sanji with a guilty face. "I….layered before I came back to retrieve you. Jean Bart has a supply of them in the van – this is necessary. I don't know what exactly I'm facing."

"Danny Phantom is back," Sanji commented lightly, Luffy straightening his hat to laugh then look confused.

"Oh, so…we're not the Mystery Gang?" he asked with a puzzled expression. "I'm not exactly Tucker Foley material, so maybe I can wing Paulina's spot. I'm _kinda_ pretty…"

Sanji bit his lips, trying not to create the image of Luffy as Paulina. But his eyes stung with held back mirth as Luffy laughed at himself. He reached out to pat Luffy's shoulder.

"I thought they were old enough for you to not recognize that they weren't part of my personality," Law then told Corazon, fixing his hat atop of his head. He hadn't any idea what the two were talking about. "They're weaker – my self is at the forefront. Newer ones are stronger, which overtakes my personality. What I can do with them is limited."

"And you tried to trick me," Corazon accused him with a low hiss. "No matter. In that moment, I saw nothing of what you had described. In the case of demonic entities – "

"This one is smart," Sanji spoke up with hesitation. "It created Law's doppelganger. Penguin was the only one to notice that it couldn't replicate his sword."

"Is that a special sword?" Luffy asked Law curiously, looking for the weapon. "Can I see it?"

Law glared down at him, tattooed fingers clenching the strap of his case tightly. "No. _Go away_."

"Is that a tattoo? Are you some sort of hoodlum? You look like a missionary that went rogue…what'd you do, not fulfill your destiny? Hey, do you have a bike? Does it have a bell?" Luffy then laughed, mimicking the movement of ringing a bike bell. "I wanna see you do this with that angry old man face of yours!"

"His voice and everything," Sanji continued over their voices.

"As I was saying," Corazon said impatiently, "demonic entities will possess a host that suits them. Smarter ones will choose ones that fit their hunger."

"Gin was a suitable host," Law murmured. "Considering his crimes…"

"What happened to him?"

"We never ran into him," Law reported, glancing around them. "This entity confronted me within my layers – those persons took a picture of the creature. It might be a clue – "

"Then re-layer yourself with those entities."

"…They were destroyed by it."

"It can touch you, but you can't touch it. Good thing you have some living shields you can push forward in front of you," Corazon then said.

"Cora," Law then said low, taking a step closer to him.

"Don't touch me with your multiple entity hands…"

Ignoring the man's testy complaint, Law said, "Can you be sure that it's me when I remove the layers?"

"I can see you for who you truly are when you're empty." After some consideration, cigarette smoke suddenly strong in the air, Corazon asked, "You're worried about this, aren't you?"

"I didn't sense the presence at all, and…" Law glanced at the other two, Luffy saying something to Sanji that caused the blond to smile. For a moment he paused, caught in the sight of it. Corazon cleared his throat noisily so Law said hastily, "…I could be a danger to those around me. This doppelganger – why did it choose to attack when my back was turned? I've never come into contact with either soul in the length of my time doing this, so it seems like it's personal for it to single out my actions..."

"Then maybe it's time to stop doing this," Corazon said gently. "You think word doesn't travel far with us dead about your exploits? I sense that you've lost your cockiness with the job, and now it's just…something you do because it's something you've done for a long time."

Law exhaled, nodding grimly.

After a moment, Corazon said – _Law could see the man's tired smile, his blood splattered skin lifting with the gentility of it_ – "This is you. This person talking to me. Just…follow your heart, Law. If it's telling you to do something – _do_ it. Stop being so indecisive."

Law considered his words. "This will be my last job."

Corazon reached out to pat him, the shadows allowing for a large hand to become visible – before he drew it back sharply before touching Law.

"You have my item," Corazon then said. "I'll be there if you need me."

: :

"It must have touched on some of my feelings. That's why…that's why it attempted to separate you from the others."

Sanji blinked at Law from behind the lenses of his glasses, looking away from the window to the seat in front of him ( _neither of them could sit together – it felt too intimate. Even now_ ). Luffy was sitting in the passenger side seat, talking miles per minute – Jean Bart couldn't hear him. He maneuvered the white van back towards Sanji's apartment building. The streets were busy with the evening commute, so lights lit up the area like chaotic fire. Pedestrians risked chance as they crossed, and planes rattled over the high reaching buildings around them. There was a different light to the sky that made it dreary and somewhat ominous – clouds were building in the distance, with nothing more than a light threat. The chill of the season's change was present, forcing those on the streets to bundle with added material – it wasn't something Sanji really noticed in terms of any type of beauty. His head was often focused on the sidewalk.

But it seemed lately that he was looking up more often.

Hearing Law speak softly startled Sanji out of his weightless musing. He focused on the man's reflection in the window. Once the words settled in, he let them linger. ' _Thank you for your consideration_ ,' Law had said earlier. Now Sanji knew what he meant.

"Probably for a more gruesome death than it planned with the other two," Law continued, causing Sanji to frown. "The more negativity it finds, the stronger it gets."

"So, the more _you_ feel, the stronger it will get feeding off your feelings if….something happens."

"Correct."

Sanji sucked his lips between his teeth, weighing those things. One outweighed the other. He lowered his head, smile tugging at his lips as he focused on his fiddling fingers. "Considering what you intended on doing in the forest, it probably thought of you as a threat. Who knows what was said to it that night to exacerbate the situation…"

Law exhaled with annoyance. He had one ankle atop of one knee, arms crossed. Every so often, his shoe would tap against the van's wall. He was properly belted in. "I'm not the chatty type, either."

"Maybe this was the plan," Sanji then said, leaning forward to brace himself against the seat Law sat in, arms folded underneath his chin, "because it was thriving in that forest on the souls left behind, and the only way to beat it in a fair fight was bringing it in where _you_ had the advantage. Maybe it wasn't an act on the behalf of the thing's, but yours."

Law frowned at the window. He sought the reflection of the other man in there – his skin prickling underneath his clothes at the nearness of those fair arms folded upon the seat. He was ultra-aware of him and unsure of how to keep his reaction in control. But his emotions – his own and the others, whomever they were – were lifted and relieved. This man wanted to be close to him – taking note of his uneasy feelings and moving slowly; knowing that he wasn't always himself, knowing –

In his time, when he'd mentioned these fantastic things to the waiter, the man didn't believe. He didn't have to. Spooks and ghouls at that time were tamer, limited to poltergeists and sad grandmothers occupying their childhood homes. As times changed, so did the jobs. The waiter knew Law's life span, he was aware of what he did – but he didn't see ghosts. He didn't hear them, he wasn't aware of their proximity with Law's presence. All the waiter cared about was _him_. Near same of this man here – even when it seemed Law couldn't get his feet on the ground, Sanji was still there for him. The immensity of the fact made him feel frustrated with his own efforts so far.

Maybe it was time to stop fighting his own indecisions and doubt, and start _showing_. He felt anxiety at the fact – it was so open, now, how could he just…? His chest tightened.

Sanji glanced at him when he didn't hear a response. Only able to see his profile, he saw Law's face tightened with some concentration, but his tattooed fingers were clenching as they held onto his arms, and Sanji wished he was a mind reader. He had an urge to kiss him, to assure and comfort him. But he restrained himself because he didn't know what Law was thinking, and didn't want to make a risk that could backfire. He sat back in his seat with regret.

"Could be," Jean Bart said from the front, answering Sanji's theory. Hearing his voice startled Law, realizing he hadn't said a thing and was only focused on his thoughts. "It makes more sense here in the city. Not all ghosts are sad ghosts. Not all of them are as strong as those in the forest. That thing is probably just now realizing it."

Once they pulled up to the building, Jean Bart parked on a side street with a quiet belch. Luffy turned around in his seat to look back at them with expectance. In moments, he was out on the sidewalk, stretching so noisily that pigeons took hasty flight to the building's roof.

"What we doing next, boss? Now that it knows we're here, we can't exactly expect that this will always be a safe place – "

"It didn't walk into the apartment," Sanji said aloud, remembering the moment. He watched as Luffy pressed his mouth against the window, blowing on it and making goofy faces. "It seemed it couldn't. It knocked and waited for us to move."

"You have spells or something up there?" Jean Bart asked him curiously.

Sanji shook his head, tucking his hair behind his ears, bangs still in his face. "No. I bought it once I had the money – it just felt right."

"If ghosts couldn't enter your apartment," Law said slowly, "then why was… _he_ able to?"

"He never stayed very long," Sanji mumbled.

"Plus," Jean Bart added with some vague discomfort, "he lost layers every time he came back. Always needed to recharge. That's when he was the goofiest."

"Was it….was it his?" Sanji asked Law tentatively.

"Hey you guys, what's taking you so long to come out here?" Luffy asked, halfway in and halfway out of the van but bracing himself against the van doors.

"Having an adult conversation!" Law snapped at him. To the others, he said, "he occupied an apartment just above the restaurant. With an older man."

"Well, it sounds boring," Luffy muttered, pushing himself back out onto the sidewalk. He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted out "HELLO!" – none of the pedestrians passing him made any indication that they heard him.

"…Zeff?" Sanji questioned tentatively.

"Yes. I never thought that was his name, it sounds so….inane…"

Sanji considered the cook he knew, who gave him what he lacked in the Vinsmoke household. It was perplexing – did the old man know his origins? It felt like such a shame he couldn't ask. But he felt such affection for Zeff at that moment because Zeff was more of a father than Judge ever was – even as a pesky ghost, he'd done what he could to see that Sanji had some company amidst his bullying brothers and father.

"Some places are just naturally powerful," Law murmured with discomfort. He made a face as Luffy dropped his pants and mooned them, cheeks sliding over the van window while he laughed. Sanji cringed. Law cleared his throat and steadfastly ignored the boy. "We'll retrieve those two and just return to the bar."

"Man, you guys are no fun at all!" Luffy complained, fixing his pants into place as Jean Bart swiped at his phone screen. Luffy then fell over backward onto the seat Law was sitting on, missing him completely. But Law unbuckled himself from that seat and moved away while Luffy sighed noisily, hands on his stomach. "I get you guys are working on some weird issues, but I absolutely don't know what's going on. Are we solving mysteries, or looking for a freak to fight? I used to fight all the time in high school. My brother, Ace, he fought all the time too, and my other brother, Sabo, was always breaking us up but really I just wanted to win like Ace, so – "

"We are in the middle of investigating a bad ghost," Sanji told Luffy. "And they're a big threat."

"What are you going to do about it? Challenge them to a duel? Hey, can I see your sword?" Luffy then asked Law again, Law pulling his sword case to his lap and hugging it with a scowl. Luffy scowled at him. "Is this a special sword? A sword that kills demons? Hey, how can you - ?"

"Sanji, _please_ ," Law begged, hand to his temple as Sanji shook his head. He invited Luffy to sit next to him, the boy scowling at Law the entire time as he switched seats.

"Why is he such an old man? He reminds me of my old man," Luffy complained to Sanji.

"He's got a lot on his mind, and all your jabbering is throwing him off. You know he's an older man, you need to be more careful. Stop being such a spaz," Sanji scolded him, reaching out to fix his hat as Luffy huffed with impatience. "Take a breath, _wait_ between sentences before spitting out the next one."

"Can I see your sword?" Luffy asked again, very slowly, then took a deep breath to add, " _Please_."

Law turned and gave him a vicious glare, Luffy glaring back before crossing his arms over his chest and slamming himself back first against his seat. Sanji struggled not to show any emotion, but he covered his mouth with his hand anyway, looking out the window.

"Why am I even here?" Luffy then complained, hands behind his head. "I should be back in town with Sabo! He's such a nervous driver – I could be with him right now!"

"Robin thought it was important that you were here," Sanji told him patiently. "You're important, kiddo. Just stop being a little shit, and you'll know why, soon. Probably when you're least expecting it."

" _Important_? How? You guys don't even know me. _I_ don't even know you! But I must admit, this is pretty cool," Luffy then admitted, sitting up straight. "But what's the deal? Why are you guys freaking out over everything? All I hear is some talk about a puppy and some dude…"

"This ghost can kill other ghosts," Sanji explained. "Perhaps just troubled ghosts. He's building strength in himself, and he's angry at this guy, here. That's the basis of it."

"Ohhhh, so…how am I important in all this?"

"You will be used by Sanji," Law muttered from his seat as Jean Bart opened up a new can of beer, having finished his call. "As a layer."

"I don't understand – what's a layer?"

"It's when a strong ghost can possess the body of the living," Sanji explained with discomfort. "And I didn't know that was the plan. I had the thought _you'd_ be using him."

"So, I can possess somebody," Luffy started slowly before Law could answer, "and when I do, I can be that person? Or will they be me? Hey, that's why I was able to eat, huh?"

"No, it's because _you're_ the vulnerable person. A _housewife_ nearly wiped you out," Law muttered in response. Sanji stared at him with irritation while Luffy eyed the ceiling of the van, hands on his knees.

"Don't take it the wrong way," Jean Bart spoke up from the front, can to his lips. "Put aside your feelings and understand that this is Law's way of protecting someone he cherishes. He's afraid to lose you…again. I don't understand why the subject is still taboo."

Law felt his face flush as Sanji's face twisted with understanding, Luffy straightening up in his seat when he realized the atmosphere had shifted.

" _Again_? Are _you_ a ghost?" Luffy asked Sanji with surprise, Penguin and Shachi hurrying up to the van.

"Thought I'd just put that out there," Jean Bart told Law as the doors were flung open. "So things weren't misunderstood. Speak up, Trafalgar. Times have changed."

" _Goddamn_ it, Law," Penguin snapped at his friend, taking the passenger seat while Shachi climbed into the bench seat next to Law, "get your shit together! Wait, what are we talking about? Maybe I should know the context before saying something."

"Don't worry guys, I have the keys," Shachi assured them, digging out the tangled bunch from his back pocket as Jean Bart prepared to drive. "All of them. I don't know if we need them, but just know I have them in my possession."

Before anything else could be said, one of the tires blew out noisily, causing the van to rock to one side. All of them caught themselves with surprised faces, Luffy latching onto Sanji with a startled shout. Sanji was surprised to feel the kid's heart thumping frantically against his chest – startled at feeling a ghost's physical fear manifest like a living person's. It took a few moments after that to realize the impact on his body – it felt like the wind had been knocked out of him, ribs bashed directly from a fist. It took everything he had to repress any noise, gritting his teeth, sweat collecting around his face. Everywhere Luffy had touched him made it feel like he'd been hit by a truck. With some clumsy action, he slung an arm around the kid's shoulders, patting him with comfort.

"Tire blew," Jean Bart said with surprise.

Shachi slumped low in his chair, hands pressed against his chest. "I thought we just got _shot_ at, man!"

"Those dirty bastards will pay for this, whoever they were," Penguin snarled, hopping out from his seat. Law opened his case, sword handle gripped with apprehension as he nudged Shachi with his free hand. All of them clamored out from the van, pedestrians glancing at them with dismissal as Jean Bart examined the damage.

Seeing how shredded the tire was caused him a low whistle and a shake of his head. He straightened and looked at Law. "It was him. This was no ordinary blowout."

Luffy shakily managed to release Sanji, hand to his heart. Sanji looked at him with concern, noting how pale and unsteady the kid was. It made him feel sympathetic for the boy at that moment, knowing Luffy was replaying out his death with just that sound. Sanji wasn't sure how to comfort him; every part of his upper torso ached with pain, and he refused to show it; Luffy needed comfort. The kid didn't need to know what his actions had caused. It would feel like a backhanded slap to know he couldn't find comfort in the afterlife.

"That scared me," Luffy admitted with a weak chuckle. "I just…all these images just flashed to mind, and…I know I'm dead, but, _wow_ , just a sound…!"

"It's a perfectly reasonable reaction," Sanji assured him tightly, gritting his teeth. His arms snaked up to his ribs before he forced himself to drop it. _Ghosts are unconsciously that destructive_ , he thought with shocked awe. It made him think of how Sora caused the deaths of her own children; accidental, in her own grief to get close to them. It made him think how Corazon kept warning them not to touch the living.

 _How unfair_ , he thought.

Before Luffy could say anything else, Law stepped between them, giving Sanji an impatient look. " _Boundaries_. Learn them. You can't do anything more for this kid. He's already dead."

Jean Bart turned and whacked him across the shoulders before Sanji could respond. Luffy mimicked the action from the other side, cursing when his arm swept through the older man. He hit the sidewalk with another curse as Jean Bart told Law, " _Be nice_. Stop picking on that kid."

"Trafalgar, _why_ do little people scare you?" Penguin asked Law impatiently, hands on his hips as Luffy picked himself up with a troubled mutter. "Man up, eh?"

"Oh," Shachi murmured, eyes wide behind his too big lenses. "There's a kid involved? Where was I when this all happened?"

"You were _right there_ , dumbass!"

" _Was I_? I don't even remember this alleged moment…did it really happen? I don't remember you ever being there, either," Shachi asked Penguin suspiciously, hands on his hips. Penguin threw up his own hands with exasperation.

"Before we do anything," Jean Bart said sternly before Law could say anything, "take a time out and explain why this bothers you. Because this will fuck up any other future action, should it happen. You can't change someone's nature to accommodate yours."

"I'm only saying this because I'm looking out for you, too," Jean Bart added gruffly. "And it's about time. You two idiots – help me with this tire."

"I like this guy," Luffy said with a snicker, indicating Jean Bart. "He's large and in charge. Hey, is he the real boss?"

Sanji exhaled, anxiety racing through him. But Jean Bart's tone made it clear that there was no room for Law to escape. While the others were complaining noisily about the task, he reached out and tugged on Law's jacket.

"C'mon. We can talk while we look for this thing," he said assuredly, the older man refusing to look at him at that moment. Seeing his stubbornness, Sanji shifted his hold from his jacket to his fingers. He squeezed firmly to indicate he wasn't going to let go. "He's right. It's good to talk."

"What's this?" Luffy asked, crouching between them to stare at their hands. His face bloomed with confusion, but Sanji refused to let go. He linked their fingers, even as Law stood there stubbornly, glaring off to the side. Luffy's confused eyes darted from their hands to their faces, struggling to comprehend what was happening. "Is this a Korra and Asami moment? Hey, is this when we were blasted that they were actually - ? Oh, _wow_ , I am _blasted_. I had _no_ idea. _Neither_ of you guys said anything at all to what was happening – this is a Nick moment, and I'm processing, _processing_ , and….! I don't know, where were the first clues that this was actually a thing? None of you said anything! I just thought you guys had some weird bromance going, but… _wow_. Total _wow_ moment…I need a few moments to get this…it's _fine_ , everything's _okay_ , but… _wow_. I didn't even know…"

He staggered away, then braced himself against a light pole, breathing deep and evenly. Sanji looked after him with amusement, smile twitching against his lips.

"Everything's _fine_!" Luffy then shouted at them. "I accept you!"

Law was combating his nervousness and residual anxiety, his shamed admittance that his unreasonable actions were because of his own fears. But to share them now, when he wasn't ready – _when would he be ready_? Jean Bart was right. Law's continued actions could hurt somebody if he didn't explain himself. Maybe it was the right moment to express himself, considering what was happening.

He just hoped he said the right things.


	8. Chapter 8

**8: Is Someone to Want Him Back**

* * *

The pedestrians moving around them dismissed their presence as they walked down the sidewalk. Sanji could still hear Luffy yelling out his assurances from the van, telling them to stay in sight. Having released his hand, Sanji worried his own before shoving them into his overall pockets, nervously waiting for Law to speak. But the older man seemed to avoid looking at him – tattooed fingers clenching tightly at the strap across his chest. He would inhale to speak, then release it just as tightly, giving up on the words that felt reluctant to leave him.

 _This stubbornness of his_ …! Sanji thought with impatience, glancing at him. _If there is one thing I can't stand_ …

Almost as if he'd heard him, Law looked at him. He seemed to wear a surprised face, so Sanji wondered if he'd spoken out loud, clenching his teeth with a sense of drawing horror. He pushed his glasses up with the back of his hand, feeling nervous as the silence drew out. Pausing at a stoplight, pedestrians crowded on one side of them and a homeless man crying out with animosity towards turtles on the other; the pair took up a section of the sidewalk that caused others to pass around them with vague expressions of disdain.

"You're two different people," Law said slowly, with much effort. No one was paying them any attention – too involved in their own thoughts and their headphones obvious. Sanji could hear angry calls and cries from somewhere, but he focused on the man with intensity.

For a moment, Law could see the waiter looking up at him with impatience – hands tucked in pockets, frown on the lips, hair in the face – but it was obvious both of them were different. The waiter's hair was groomed – he had signs of a mustache and a sputtering mixture of hairs on his chin – he preferred fitting, stream-lined clothing and wore the air of confidence in anything he did. His eyesight was perfect – often spotting a beautiful woman from blocks away before making Law aware of it. There was always a cigarette present – behind his ear, at his lips.

This one had messy, frizzy curls ( _that were currently blowing free in the soft evening breeze_ ), bent glasses, and slouched shoulders – slinking his way through a crowd without being noticed( _like a mouse_ ). He didn't draw attention to himself; he was soft-spoken and quiet, but he had a certain gruffness to him that often echoed the waiter's impatience( _nagging_ ). Both of them disliked men; this Sanji avoided looking at them, and barely noticed a woman passing by. The waiter was fit and healthy – this one looked like he was coming off from a long-term illness ( _Sanji never said why he had the eating habits that he did, but Law noticed the efforts with food_ )

Law noticed the faint tinge of loss at that moment – but he also remembered the waiter telling him, ' _I'll make my way back to you…_ '

 _Here he is, and I'm ruining this_ , Law thought with vexation, aware that the long pause was growing awkward. As he watched people use the crosswalks, impatient drivers honking horns, he was aware that Sanji had looked away and was focused on examining his shoes. _I'm ruining this_!

"Look," Sanji interrupted his moment of self-admonishment, frowning up at him, "just…t say something. Say – anything and everything's that's on your mind! You have this…guilt complex going for you that's holding everything up. Nothing – I don't know if you think whatever you have to say is going to hurt me, but… _I'm not afraid_. Alright? I've got this far in life, hearing everything that anyone can say to me that's – hurtful or damaging, and it's not like I'm going to die from it. If you think that – "

"You're two different people, but you do the same things he does!" Law snapped at him. Sanji paused in mid-gesture, watching him briefly before wearing a puzzled look. "Putting yourself out there for people that could give a fuck about you – "

"Yeah, I get that you have a complex about it – " Sanji then cut himself off, frustrated with his own voice. He clamped his mouth shut, and gestured at Law to continue speaking. "Keep talking. This is good. _Tell_ me."

"Are you going to continue interrupting?"

"…No. Sorry…"

Exhaling hard, Law clenched the strap at his chest with both hands, frustrated with the way things were going. But Jean Bart was right – Sanji needed to know. Law's efforts combating this thing running about would be hindered if he kept panicking over what Sanji was doing. But the fear couldn't be dismissed.

"That is why I…he died protecting others. None of who gave him a second glance – your mother, your father. Threw himself over two people that continued to…dismiss you. Apparently. Your father had to have known what your mother was trying to accomplish. Seeing your face could be the reason why he never warmed up to you. You were a reminder. Your mother – selfish bitch that she was – tried to take your life – _his life_ – again. People that don't give a fuck, and you just… _toss_ yourself out there like they appreciate it. That's what I mean about creating boundaries, that's what I mean when I tell you - !"

Sanji understood. Words wanted to fly out in response ( _to argue_?) but he held himself back, biting the tip of his tongue to keep from interrupting.

"Whether I influenced her actions," Law continued bitterly, "trying to protect someone that was already taken from me before – I don't know. Those years are a blur – it felt like I had just re-awakened once I was returned. But I am here now, and I keep seeing a damn repeat every time you extend a hand to someone that doesn't give a fuck how you feel about it!"

" _And_ ," he added, now that he could express himself, "you don't give a fuck about my feelings, either. Not then, not now, because you dismiss them like they're nothing. And I have to shoulder the consequences of them. I feel like my feelings aren't worth shit."

Sanji didn't know what to say. Hearing the other man's emotions as he expressed them made him feel a myriad cluster of different things ( _was that guilt_?), and he wasn't sure how to sort them out. All he knew right now was Law's pain in that expression – but another set of feelings rose up in him ( _frustration, offense_ ), and he realized why Jean Bart had said what he had (" _You can't change someone's nature to accommodate yours_.")

"I am present every time we go out to these hunts, and every time you – _open_ yourself to people that wouldn't have done the same to you. That kid back there? He don't give a fuck about what you do or say – that housewife back there? She didn't give a fuck. And that priest you tried to hide? You can bet he isn't thinking about what you did for him, either! He could give a flying fuck as well!"

"That's a lot of fucks," Sanji murmured with concern, losing the battle. "You're very angry about this."

" _I am_! _Why can't I be_?"

"Tell me," Sanji said, reaching out to touch his hands and watching them flick away, avoiding his touch as they were shoved into pockets. He faltered for a bit, but then reached out and grabbed Law's jacket instead ( _unconsciously holding on before the man could leave_ ), "when you met him, did you find hope in that aspect of his because you once thought that he'd give a fuck about you despite your constant fuck-offs?"

At that moment, Law could see a memory clearly: of the waiter smirking at him, drawing on his cigarette while Law was sitting angrily at some park bench (pissed for some unclear reason).

' _I was sent here for you_ ,' he said (voice so clear and confident), ' _because you need someone like me to forgive you for your shitty attitude_.'

Pedestrians walked around them, not giving them a second glance. A fire truck rumbled by, hoses and tools rattling from within their assigned cabinets. Someone was playing pulsing music that caused glass to rattle. A dog barked from an open car window as it flew by.

Law knew he wasn't the easiest person to get along with. He was fully aware of his walls and distance – he knew he wasn't the easiest person to love. But one man did.

"You're two different people," Law said, but it wasn't a response. It was something he said aloud to assure himself with. "I gave you a gleam to save your life – it's gone. It's obvious. It left an impression – but nothing more, so – "

"I am my own person," Sanji agreed, fingers tightening and bunching up in Law's black jacket. "Just as you are. I might be a…physical impression, but he and I…are obviously different. He gave me all his good points, because you recognize them – but the rest of me – they're mine. And I'm not that person because you don't treat me like that person – you treat me like I'm a leftover."

With an exhale, he added lightly, "Just warm me up in the microwave, man. Leftovers are still good with the right amount of warmth."

" _Jesus Christ_ ," Law muttered, hands to his hat with nervous gesture.

"I could have just…let you go," Sanji then said, watching his fingers tighten in the material of the black jacket, "but I can't. Despite what you think about yourself, thinking I'm hung up on someone else, it's you I have feelings for. So…some compromises need to be made. One of them being that you _can't_ change me, or who I am. I'm telling you right here, it's easy to give myself up because I'm worthless – my family made that clear to me years ago. Because of that feeling, I put myself in _their_ place, too. I know how it feels to have someone give up without even trying…"

Before Law could say anything, Sanji jerked on his jacket to keep his attention. "And here I am, not giving up on you, because I sense that you need that, too."

"That's what I'm _trying_ to say," Law insisted low, gritting his teeth, "if you weren't worth it, then why does it piss me off when you put yourself in situations I can't stop?"

"I can't stop being who I am," Sanji said low, "and I can't be him. So you need to understand that any similarities that we might have – won't be the same reactions that you would expect."

Law exhaled heavily. Of course it made sense. He closed his eyes with a heavy sense of obviousness to him that he felt down to his toes. But that anxiety persisted. That time of grief was so suffocating, so overwhelming – he couldn't bear it, again. He was just starting to breathe, again. Starting to convince himself to open up – but every time this one did something similar to him, he couldn't help but lose his bearing. Pedestrians crowded around them once more, impatiently waiting for the light to turn in their favor. A few took risks. Cars rumbled by, an ambient collection of moving lights without particular details. Everything was so much bigger than when he'd left it.

"Besides," Sanji added, loosening his fist within the material of his jacket, "I don't do it for the living."

"Doesn't make it any better. Their torment is easily fixed by my sword."

Sanji swallowed, watching people cross. Avoiding their advances by leaning up against the stoplight. He understood why Law was so fidgety and reluctant. Looking into the distance, he did question himself as to why he even gave the ghosts his assistance ( _Sabo's puzzled, scarred face came to mind_ ) but he couldn't feel any regret in it. The living he could ignore – it was easy to. They ignored him. But the dead whispered in his ear and sobbed tears that didn't drop.

His mother had tried to kill him in her ghostly form, and he'd ducked flying objects flung by invisible hands. A ghost's hug could leave bruises on his skin, and a loss of breath from his lungs – but he couldn't imagine just stopping because Law felt a certain fear in it.

But this was a good thing – these words the man spoke were words of love despite the actions behind it. He was someone's anxiety, for reasons he couldn't imagine ( _despite being told so obviously – his insecurity was much too heavy_ ), and he felt good about it. Someone cared – someone living breathing and alive, just like him, cared about him. His chest hurt just thinking about it.

"I think you need to learn to trust me," he mumbled, then rose his voice slightly. "I might not be someone you can have confidence in, but that's damaging, too. You'll end up like my mother – thinking her love was the only thing that could save me."

Law exhaled again, watching the traffic flow. His fingers gripped with strength around the strap across the chest. _I know_ , he thought with frustration. I know.

"As for the other…I'm sorry you had to go through that. But he gave you a gift," Sanji then added slowly, watching the older man's face for changes. "Don't fuck it up overthinking it."

Law looked at him, frowning. "What gift was that?"

"He showed you what it was like to be loved, and what it means to love. Most people nowadays don't have that."

"Don't minimize my pain," Law warned him gruffly.

"You're allowed to feel pain. But you're not allowed to let it dominate you. You have something to look back on and feel lucky to have – appreciate what he gave you. Whatever his reasons that day…" Sanji exhaled heavily as he trailed off, wearing a sort of bewildered expression. _If he hadn't, would I still exist_? He looked at Law with that expression. " _I'm_ appreciative, because it allowed me to live. If he hadn't, would I be here?"

Law frowned down at him, the concept whirling around in his thoughts. It struck him that this was so. ( _Complicated – it was all so complicated_!) Before he could say anything, he noticed that the group had successfully replaced the tire with a spare. Luffy was yelling at them, hand waving fiercely in the air to return.

"Now that you understand," he ended up saying, looking down at the dirty sidewalk, "don't do anything stupid. Let's go."

"Hold on there, John Wick," Sanji said, catching his jacket before he could move, "you enlisted me into this. I'm part of the crew. Define 'don't do anything stupid,' because the stupidest thing I could ever do was agree to do this with you guys."

"Create your boundaries. Quit letting everyone past them."

" _Hey_ ," Sanji then said, firming his grip when Law attempted to walk away again. He forced the man to look down at him, cold fingers to his cheek. Once he was satisfied with the impatient look Law gave him, Sanji asked, "are we cool? Both of us. This…what we have here between us. Even without it being said aloud, it's obvious. Why pretend that it's not?"

Law took a deep breath, observing the activity around them. Luffy was leaning against a meter, dully calling their names repeatedly while Penguin and Shachi argued with each other and Jean Bart took a pull of relief from an open can. Before anything could be said, Sanji leaned up to kiss him. Law quickly pulled away, glancing at those around them.

" _Oh my god_!" Luffy cried with horror from a distance. "Get a _room_!"

"I'm not there, yet," Law told Sanji gruffly before hurrying away. Sanji frowned after him, hands tucked into his pockets.

Nobody paid them any mind - he doubted they even noticed what happened. Thinking about Law's reaction to the gesture, Sanji fisted his hands within his pockets. In a time of convenience at a swipe of a phone, this felt like a rejection, not old-fashioned appropriation.

" _Damn_ it," he hissed bitterly, looking in the opposite direction with disappointment. He resisted the urge to stomp his foot, inwardly berating himself for doing something so hasty. He wanted the physical interaction so badly that the gesture – something he'd given before without hesitation – was impulse. Give comfort, receive comfort. Physical needs were human – but permission was human, too.

 _It wasn't a rejection_ , he thought sourly. _Just a man caught in the wrong era_. The situation still felt so delicate – like holding a butterfly between cupped hands. His own impulses were difficult to sort out.

He turned to head back, focused on the sidewalk with a frown to his lips. He only became aware that he wasn't alone because booted feet were moving in tandem with his. He paused in mid-step, forcing a couple of chatting pedestrians to stream around him without stopping. One of them swept through the dark, hooded figure, whose face was hidden within the folds of that hood. The hood was attached to a cape that covered most of the man's upper half, only allowing glimpses of his torso – from the set on his chest, the man had his arms crossed. The battered vest, long sleeved shirt with threadbare elbows and cuffs, the high-waisted trousers with suspenders that didn't fit with modern styles over boots that looked outdated caused Sanji mild curiosity.

It was rare to run into a ghost that wasn't dressed for the times, and he couldn't place the timeline on these clothes.

 _Boundaries_ , Sanji thought hurriedly. The man followed alongside him, and Sanji focused on the group waiting for him by the van, determined to ignore the presence. Luffy was complaining noisily to Law, who was snapping back at him impatiently, Jean Bart using the back of his hand against Law's head.

"I know you can hear me," Sanji heard the man speak low – with a tinge of a growl that caused the hairs on the nape of Sanji's neck to rise – so Sanji covered that ear with one cupped palm, quickening his step. "Find that dog, yet?"

Because the question was so direct, Sanji paused to look at him. He couldn't see the man's face, but the hood covered head tilted upward ever so slightly, turning with just enough give to allow Sanji the impression he was being pierced with some unknown gaze.

"No," he answered with clumsy response. "You've seen it?"

"It's no animal. And _I_ didn't do it," the man replied, Sanji's skin breaking out into goosebumps. "None of it. Not after that."

Sanji tried to sort that out, giving the others a glance to see if they were aware of the moment, but he returned his attention back to the man. Once he realized the other man was gone, he turned in a slow circle, scanning the streets. The whole encounter made him uneasy, hands out of his pockets to worry at his overall straps. For a moment, he felt dizzy with some suffocating pause that made his mouth heavy and his limbs stiff. People continued to walk around him, steadily ignoring each other and his presence in the middle of the sidewalk. The sound of a car horn caused him a jolt, blinking slowly at the sight of a café window in front of him.

With a wince, he reached up to his hair and began pulling it from around his face, away from his ears. He found a hair tie on his wrist, and used that to pull it into a messy ponytail His reflection was still unsatisfactory.

"Haircut," he murmured low to himself, puzzled at his own reflection.

"Let's _go_!" Penguin bellowed from the van, rapping at the door with one angry fist.

Sanji hurried over, feeling a little clumsy with his movements. _Low iron_ , he thought with a frown.

: :

Hours later, he was staring at his reflection in the bar restroom with a sense of detachment. There was a man at the urinal, and music beating from beyond the closed door. He washed his hands, slowly rubbing soap mixture between his fingers and scrubbing at his palms. He used it to wash his face, rinsing off moments later. The man washing his hands next to him frowned, but left without saying anything. Sanji gripped the sides of the sink, listening to his own confused thoughts.

 _Maybe I was nagging_ , he reasoned of Law's earlier reaction. _I came on too strong_. _This world is so much different from what he's used to. Can't take it personal. When will he allow me to touch him_?

He removed his glasses, setting them inside his overall pocket. Grabbing paper towels, he dried his face and hands, once again frowning at his hair. The frizzy mess made him shake his head with mute disgust. _Haircut_ , he thought again.

"Meat grease?" Luffy asked from behind him, startling him as the teenager looked at him suspiciously. "My face gets super greasy, too. Hey, at least you're not breaking out every five minutes, not like my face. Super volcanoes all over my forehead and stuff. One on my chin. See? Acne scars."

Sanji glanced at him from the corner of his eye, then tossed the used paper towels into the trash nearby. "Privacy. That's all I need. For five minutes."

"I mean, you were in here for a long time. That old guy is getting _super_ cranky about it," Luffy said with a scoff. "'Go see what he's doing', he says. 'Hold your breath if you have to!' Stupid old man – I can't smell anything! Plus, a man needs some modesty!"

Sanji's fingers went up to his hair, giving it a frown. "There's so much hair."

Luffy looked up at him skeptically as Sanji scowled at himself in the mirror, trying in vain to shift strands around. "You were fine with it earlier. I mean, it could use a chop, but I dunno what the big deal is now. Kinda reminds of me Sabo's hair."

"You miss your brother?"

"Yeah, like…all the time. Sucks I can't talk to him."

"Maybe you should go back to him," Sanji murmured, touching places along his jawline with a sense of detachment in his actions. _Did I look like him? The other man_? He wondered, trying to picture someone better than him. "To…Sabo."

"You guys brought me here," Luffy reminded him crossly. "To help, or whatever. Robin wanted me to help you – I don't know, she wasn't even clear on that. She taught me how to do some stuff then…"

He gave a shrug. "None of you guys know what you're doing, either! That old man just keeps drinking and you're, I dunno, freaking out because of a fight you two had…nothing is organized."

Sanji turned away from the mirror to consider his words. _As if he needs another reason to drink_ , he thought sourly. _Why am I doing this_ …?

 _Focus_.

"No other word on the dog?" he asked, reaching up to pull and tug at his hair, removing the hair tie to make a tighter ponytail. _This is ridiculous. Too much hair_ \- !

" _No_ ," Luffy stressed with exasperation. "Where's Robin, anyway?"

"She comes and goes," Sanji said with patience, pulling away from the sink and heading for the door. He looked back at Luffy once he realized the teen was just staring at him, mute with some indecisive look to his face. "What?"

"I don't know you very well," Luffy admitted, moving to join him, "but something doesn't seem right about you. Are you…you guys are fighting, aren't you?"

"No." Sanji opened the door and stalked out, scanning the bar. He found the men seated there, drinking amber liquid from tall, frosted glasses while Jean Bart served others that approached the counter. He shrugged his shoulders as Luffy sighed theatrically behind him. "Passing the time having a drink or two may is nice. But we're wasting time, here. That thing is getting stronger."

"What is it, anyway?"

"Nothing human," Sanji muttered, headed for the door. "Tell them I'm busy. Need a haircut."

Luffy watched him go with a skeptical expression, hands in his jacket pockets. After a glance at the others, he ended up following after the other man without saying anything.

: :

Back at the apartment, Sanji stared at himself in the mirror for some countless minutes. The air was suffocating in here – the windows had been pulled open, allowing the night city air to drift in. Curtains rattled at the rods. The sounds of traffic were a gentle ambiance against the ringing silence. Everything felt so frustrating – simple movement was a struggle. He'd found some shears near the bedside stand, and had his hair brushed out. His appearance bothered him.

 _Did I look like him in anyway_? Sanji thought vaguely, staring at eyes that were deeply ringed with sleeplessness. His appearance nagged at him. The way Law spoke to him felt like an ice pick. _He don't know what he wants_. _Probably won't ever_.

 _Boundaries_ , he added, picking up his shears. He gave himself a haircut, blond strands falling around the sink and fluttering to the floor. Once he was satisfied, he rubbed one hand through the mess, then used his brush to comb it all into the sink. He resisted to cut shorter ( _it would draw too much attention_ ).

 _To whom_? He thought with bewilderment, pausing in mid-snip, staring at himself once more. His reflection was troublesome – all he saw was a troubled young man staring back at him, his face grim with his own thoughts. When was the last time he looked at himself? He looked down at the scissors in hand, then at the blond strands that were built up within the sink's curvature. It startled him to see this, looking back at himself with a light gasp and noticing his appearance.

As he ran his fingers through his shorn strands, panicked at the difference, Sanji reasoned with himself. _People have breakdowns all the time_. _This conversation was a difficult one_. _I'm not the guy_. _He can't touch me or bear to have me touch him because I'm not the guy_.

He braced himself against the bathroom sink, scissors scraping at the porcelain. When he lowered his head, the strands fell messily around his head and shoulders, but it seemed more manageable, now. _Maybe a change was appropriate_ , he thought with some distraction. _My hair was a mess in the first place_.

He used water to comb it carefully into place, lips pulled into a grim frown. Setting that aside, he stared at himself in mute silence before pushing away, yanking at the straps of his overalls. He climbed out of those, removing his shirt and ventured into his closet. He found a vast majority of oversized clothing – _are these even mine_? – but settled on a black v-neck shirt he found folded in the back corner of the shelf, along with some old jeans that fit. He pulled those on, then rummaged for the all-weather boots.

There was a jacket hanging behind all the other shirts – almost hidden. A brown jacket with shearling lining – Sanji was mystified at the sight of this. _This isn't mine_. A vague memory of him hiding away Law's things (his ex) told him that this jacket didn't belong to the collection that one had left behind.

He tugged it on anyway before leaving the closet, venturing into the kitchen. He was ravenous. He found an apple and chewed on that while looking for some snacks. He made a thick sandwich and poured a cup of milk. It felt like he hadn't ate a thing for some years.

Milk sloshed around his mouth and jaw, and he wiped that with the sleeve of his jacket before abandoning the mess. Rummaging through all the drawers, he found what he was looking for. The cleaver was still within its packaging, and he tore that off before uncapping the gleaming steel.

He missed the wooden handle of his last weapon.

He set it down on the counter with a heavy exhale, the utensil clattering noisily amid the silence.

 _GET OUT_ , he thought with panicked command, watching his fingers tremble against the counter as he braced himself. _GET OUT OF ME_.

He pictured the man he was talking to on the street, and pushed away from the counter, gritting his teeth. Marching into the bathroom, he stared at his reflection, trying to see beyond his angry expression. Like a wave of passing steam, he could see sleepless, troubled black eyes, a narrow nose, and dark skin.

 _You can't do this_! He thought fiercely, squeezing his eyes shut. _I reject you. I reject you_!

 _Find the dog_ , another thought whispered over his vehemence. "Find the dog, get rid of it."

"It's an evil thing," he addressed himself calmly, his voice deeper than he remembered. His throat hurt allowing it to escape. "It's nothing like a human being. Took over my Pearl like a cougar on a pup. Didn't give Pearl a chance."

" _GET OUT OF ME_."

"I didn't do those things. It made me do it. It was easy pining it on me. They believed in witches and the devil, but not the innocence of a man in the wrong place," Sanji insisted, spittle wetting his lips with his insistence. "I'm a free man. Did no wrong. It was easy blaming me when they could find no one else."

Swallowing tightly, Sanji stared at his reflection. He could see only himself, but it felt like the air he was breathing was new and dirty. He missed the taste of the Midwest dust and the smoke of a campfire.

 _Boundaries_!

"I have boundaries," he wheezed.

"I am innocent. That thing is no dog. Pearl was just a pup. All I had in the world."

Sanji recalled Law speaking of how to capture a gleam – he didn't explain how to release it. But he felt the man's vehemence in what he was speaking – innocent. He was a pawn. Used by this…thing.

Not an animal, but something demonic and strong. Whatever it was, it was responsible for this man's crimes.

"I can't let it happen again," he said low, staring into his own face in the mirror. "It has to be destroyed. I could remove the body, but not the actual thing."

Sanji was treated to the memory of bloodied hands, an old bottle with a doctor's advice written in careful cursive. Seated in some quiet forest where birds were missing and even the wind refuse to blow against leaves that always seemed brown. The smell of something rotting in the distance seemed to hang over him like an invisible blanket. He heard gurgling, the sound of a man in agony – the angry snarl of something that wasn't human.

His heart stopped racing in panic.

"If you couldn't do it then," he said low, "what gives you the confidence, now?"

"Peace for Pearl."

 _Over a dog_ ….? Sanji thought with despondence.

"We traveled distances on trains, together. Gave him whatever I could spare. He was my only companion. It wasn't right seeing him ripped apart by that thing. And to clear my name. No one remembers it now, but it wasn't me."

"I'm the wrong person to use, then," Sanji said, clearing his throat. It was dry with the shifting of voices, throat scratched with the differences. "My companion is better at this."

The ringing silence afterward caused him discomfort, but Sanji wasn't sure whose it was. He swallowed tightly, trying to identify the feelings roiling around inside of him. He couldn't tell which was his feeling to feel, or what they even were. He pushed away from the sink, turning off the light. Walking back to his kitchen, he picked up the cleaver. He tucked that into his bag and after a glance around his apartment, he went to the door.

Luffy was standing outside with a puzzled expression, looking from him to the door. "I can't go in," he said with immense confusion. "There's some kinda wall there. Oh, you cut your hair? Looks good, I guess."

Sanji stared down at him for a few moments, then pushed away from the entrance, headed for the stairway. He paused, then turned and headed for the elevator, Luffy following after him with a puzzled frown. Before reaching it, Sanji adjusted his bag around him, looking at Luffy with discomfort.

"You can't see him, can you?" he asked the boy, who adjusted his hat with mystification.

"I mean, you're acting funny," Luffy started off with uncertainty, then shrugged. "But I don't know what I'm looking at."

 _Robin_ , Sanji thought with distress, reaching into his pocket. Once he realized he was wearing a different set of clothes, he paused in mid-search. The bullet was in his overalls. Luffy pressed on the elevator prompt with tongue between his lips, then cheered noisily as the lights began to flash. Apprehensively, Sanji watched the approach.

"Take us back to the bar," Sanji told Luffy lightly. "My mind's a bit…foggy."

"Something is," Luffy agreed skeptically, leading the way into the elevator.

"I have a favor to ask of you," Sanji then said, once they were settled and Luffy jabbed all the buttons at once, snickering. "You're here to help, yes?"

"Yeah."

"Stop me if I start doing some….unnecessary things that aren't fitting of my character. Can you do that?"

Luffy stared up at him in immense confusion. "But I don't even know you that well."

Sanji smiled vaguely at him.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N : please o please check out my tumblr ([hackdrawer](https://hackdrawer.tumblr.com/)) to see amazing art by Mazout for Under the Dome and the first chapter of this fic! It’s glorious! 

**9: Oh, If the Right One Came**

* * *

Staring at the foam that slowly dissipated against the walls of the mug, Law tuned out the noises behind him. Shachi was talking animatedly about Moonpies while Penguin grumbled, Jean Bart serving customers that approached. Law's mind was running through the encounter with a mixture of unsettling feelings that he had trouble separating. His one true regret about it was avoiding the intended physical contact. Every time he thought of it, it made him cringe. He palmed his face with a slight slap, drawing his palm down the length of it before rubbing at his goatee.

 _Why'd I jump_? He thought with irritation. He was aware he gave mixed signals – the waiter had teased him about it. _Privately_ , Law added to the thought with a troubled expression directed to the mirror behind the bar. _Affection was given privately because of those times…we had to hide who we were. Unlike today's_ …

Law felt immensely troubled by his own old-fashioned views. But he'd regretted turning away physical affection. It was time, it was _okay_ – it would not be the waiter's touch, but it was _okay_ for another to touch him. This was a new and different sort of touch – it was welcomed but why couldn't he just relax and invite it? He was behaving like some scared virgin, and it irritated the fuck out of him. When would he stop being so fucking annoying?

 _Stop being such a fucking_ baby, he thought of himself impatiently. He looked at his hand – he could still feel Sanji's sweaty grasp on his fingers. His skin tingled with the memory. A missed opportunity…

He slapped that hand down on the bar, startling the pair next to him.

"What's your problem?" Penguin demanded, lowering his mug with a clatter while Shachi held a hand to his chest, breathing theatrically.

"This thing," Law murmured, unable to talk to them about his private affairs, "still needs to be found."

"Then _why_ are we still _sitting_ here?"

"Revitalizing," Shachi answered, drinking before releasing a belch and setting his mug down. He pushed his large glasses up his noise, blinking lazily. "The bodies were dehydrated. Now that we are _properly_ hydrated, we can think better. Jean Bart! Weed!"

"No weed," Jean Bart told him with a shake of his head.

"Why can't we smoke while we're indulging in the many servings you provide us with?" Shachi asked in a disgusted whisper. "Alcohol is a sin, too! Properly sinning requires the use of _hallucinogenics_ to _complete_ the _experience_ \- !"

Penguin pushed his head away to interrupt him, then said to Law, "The thing was quite aware of us in the first place. _You_ pissed it off. It took on _your_ form. Therefore, _you_ made it _your_ problem. Now _we_ got to fix it."

"Twitter, Penguin, Twitter," Shachi commented lightly, Penguin turning to give him a ferocious glare.

"Reconsider your layers," Law murmured, folding his hands in front of him.

"Reconsider your responsibility," Penguin hissed at him, Law scowling deeply. Penguin twisted in his stool, scanning the bar. "Where is that guy? I haven't heard you snap at that kid in a while – he gone, too?"

"He left," Law answered bitterly. His hands tightened. "Some time ago with the kid. I am trusting that both are simply returning home, where it is safe."

"And you just let him, knowing that we're in this mess? We need him to see and hear things."

"Like we haven't been doing this sort of thing since forever ago," Shachi pointed out, causing Penguin to scowl, "so why rely on a newbie that's sensitive? You cried about being referred to as a pussy, and here you are…getting all demanding…"

"Penguin," Jean Bart reminded the man firmly, "remember that?"

"Man…"

Law didn't answer, but swept his mug aside. Jean Bart took their empty mugs and shook his head to indicate that they were done. Penguin gave Law a pointed look, then slouched over the countertop while Shachi fluffed at his red hair, achieving further satisfaction on his feathered hair.

"If we can lure the thing in to us," Law said slowly, "provide it bait – "

"Shachi."

"NO, man, _NO_! I'd die!"

" – then I can kill it. Simple. But it seems to know that. This sword was forged by supposed demon killers off a small island in Japan," Law continued, pulling his banner case over his lap and smoothing a palm along the length of it, "and is capable of 'killing' supernatural entities. Considering that, the demon knows this. It's attempting to grow stronger by feeding off negative energy from the ghosts left behind in this city."

"This guy, Gin," Shachi spoke up, leaning in over Penguin's back to be heard, "is as demonic as it gets."

"We know what he looks like, why not keep an eye out for him?" Penguin asked.

"Because he's not showing his face," Robin answered from behind them, startling Law. He looked back at her with surprise, the pair jerking around in their stools with a sense of alarm once they saw his reaction. But they couldn't see her, and Law noticed that her fabric-made gleam seemed more brilliant than before –her dress seemed to glow. "Because he's not the one you actively seek."

"Where've you been?" Law muttered.

"Watching." Robin then turned away to look at the door with a pensive frown. Moments later, Sanji and Luffy ambled in. The blonde's appearance was noticeably different, and it almost gave Law a heart attack. Without his glasses and his hair noticeably shorter and actually combed into place, he _almost_ resembled the waiter. Law then noticed immediately the shift in facial features, the unnatural press of his lips. He rose from the stool in alarm, banner case opened.

"I don't know what's happening," Luffy confessed with bewilderment, standing at Sanji's side as he approached the bar. Sanji looked to Robin with seemingly unrecognizable examination before looking to Law.

Even his mannerisms were that of another person. Sanji smelled like a different man – of sweat, sun and something metallic. When he spoke, his voice was low and grim. He stood inches in front of Law with such a confrontative stance that it automatically made Law bristle, Penguin rising from his stool with a, "Hey, hey, _hey_!"

"Am I tripping out, or is he another dude that looks like Sanji?" Shachi asked with alarm, braced against the counter.

"You the one that supposed to fix all this?" Sanji asked Law gruffly. The slope of his shoulders were straight and rigid, head tilted forward – but Law noticed his hand seeking the comfort of something in his ever-present bag.

" _This_ is Gin," Robin reported gravely, her face painted with slight disdain.

"I got this reputation that wasn't mine to begin with," Sanji told the others with remorse. "So I understand the mood."

" _Jean Bart_."

Upon the given order from Law, the taller man nodded. He set about to the various customers that wore surprised expressions upon being told the bar was closing unexpectedly. Seeing the activity, Sanji glanced around him. The ghosts that made the bar their last home were noticeably disturbed – they hastily made themselves scarce. His lips curled in an unfamiliar smirk once he noticed their expressions turned towards him. Luffy watched with mute surprise, eyebrows lifted. Sanji then took a seat upon one of the stools, back presented to them.

Twenty minutes later, Jean Bart locked the door and dimmed the lights, closing the blinds over the window.

"The dog you're looking for ain't anything natural on this Earth," Sanji murmured, comfortable with his back to them. Occasionally, he'd glance at the mirror behind the bar to determine the expressions of those standing behind them. Luffy was wearing a confused face while Robin looked cross, Law with sword over one shoulder while the other three stood pensively off to the side. "It belonged to the land. It was unfortunate that it was I that crossed its path when I did. Killed my dog. Took on my form. Been caught between waking and sleep all this time. I saw what it did. Been natural that I was blamed for its crimes."

"Then how are you here in individual form without that thing?" Law asked him. "Remove yourself from your vessel."

Sanji – _Gin_ – shook his finger. "Don't take me as a threat. I'm not the one to fear. I was used. I'm ensuring my safety."

"We don't know that for certain."

"In your business, there is a lot of questions that need a universal answer, but have they really been answered?" Gin asked. "I find myself with familiarity in the subject, yet…I sees memories differently from what was experienced. I have a chance to explain myself, and be heard."

"Each time a possession takes place," Robin stated slowly, arms crossed over her chest, "memories and comprehension can be warped. You are mistaking his feelings for yours. Both of you. You are still a threat."

"None of you know me any personally. That's the problem," Gin answered. "My reputation was left in shambles because of this. I appeal to you all to hear me out."

"Then take a step out and present yourself _as_ yourself," Law snapped at him. "You don't need him to do it. Not here."

"Oh, _this_ is what's going on," Shachi whispered to Penguin, Luffy looking in their direction. "Some dude took over on Sanji-dude and _that_ dude is the one we were looking for."

"Thank you for that, Captain Obvious," Penguin murmured with annoyance.

"Oh, no problems, bro."

"Is that what's happening?" Luffy whispered back with incredulity. He looked back at Sanji with distress. "I thought he was just upset!"

"They can't hear you," Robin reminded the boy gently. Luffy made an exasperated sound, fist upon palm as he belatedly remembered this.

"Unfortunately," Gin murmured, turning his head ever so slightly to address Law's demand, "I also see how you remove ghosts. _That's_ a problem."

"Remove yourself from him if you are innocent," Robin commanded forcefully, dress ruffling ever so slightly. "Or we continue to take your inaction as a threat."

Gin turned on the stool to face them, elbows resting back on the countertop. While wearing Sanji's persona in visible comfort, every feature was distorted by a noticeable difference.

"Robin," he said low, "it's important to give a guy a chance to speak his side. Otherwise, you're killing just to kill. How does that make it any different from what _I_ was blamed for? Fighting a demon without any knowledge of the demon in the first place would be your undoing. You've removed some questionable demons in this world," he then said to Law, "but this one is quite different. As I was its only vessel, powerless in its grasp, I was but a vulnerable man taken advantage of. My own family rejected me – my own friend was a dog."

"Oh, _puppy_ ," Shachi whispered with emotion, hands to his mouth while Penguin gave him a disgusted look.

"That dog was the only one to accept me in this world," Gin stated. "And he was killed unnecessarily by this thing. I want to avenge his death. And this man is the only one to understand that. By the way…"

He looked directly at Law. "We just had this talk, so you should understand what I mean. I am appealing to you to trust me. Mother never allowed me a chance."

Law's face tightened with revulsion.

Luffy pushed the sleeves up his arms. "Okay guys, stand by. I'll remove this guy. All I have to do is fight him, right?"

Robin gently held onto his shoulders, steadying him. "Gin," she said while the boy scowled, "you say you understand this creature. So you'll explain why you met it the way that you did on the train."

Gin noticeably stilled, but he caught himself by straightening atop of the stool. He then slithered off, shaking his head grimly. His mouth tightened and relaxed a few times, blinking hastily before his facial expression lightened up to near calm state. He gave a limp shrug.

"There was a bunch of us that day," he muttered. "Traveling from one end to the other. Unfortunately, the one car I boarded was carrying something in a box. Pearl didn't like that box. Kept whining and crying, pushing his face against my leg to pretend it wasn't there. The other guys weren't comfortable around it. I couldn't read. I don't know where it was going or why. To show Pearl it wasn't of any threat, I…I opened the box."

He considered the spotty memory, trying to recall exact moments, images, smells – the weight of his actions. But his mouth opened with nothing more to say but, "That thing grabbed Pearl and just…all I remember is the sound he made. Everything after that…was just death."

"Five men were slaughtered in that car," Robin reported gravely. "The constable reports state the trouble occurred because of a disagreement. Nothing was mentioned of an opened box."

"You a cop?" Gin asked her snidely. His eyes coasted over her form with noticeable consideration. "Don't look like one."

"Answer the question correctly," Law warned him, fingers tightening noticeably around the purple rope.

"Those reports detail who every single man was in that car?" Gin asked Robin. "Personalities and business? They wouldn't, would they? All of us drifters, workers looking for the next coin. Nobody important. Easier to make up a tall tale. Paint us as worthless nobodies."

Robin showed nothing in her expression, lashes fluttering as she blinked. Gin glanced at the others in the room, Sanji's expression reflecting only imagined nuances of the man's face. The crew only knew of the man by an old photo – anything he did could be truth or lie.

"They wouldn't talk about a box that wasn't supposed to be opened," Gin then said gruffly. "I couldn't read. None of us could."

"You're very eloquent for a man that could not read," Robin pointed out.

Gin exhaled, rubbing a hand over his head before shooting her a look that was troubling for the others; as if he were a man that were caught in his own lies, and could only express himself physically without a verbal denial or confirmation. He scanned the troubled faces of those facing him before shaking his head with slight disappointment. His lips were curled with a smile, nonetheless.

After several terse moments, he blinked repeatedly, facial expression relaxing and shifting subtly to reveal Sanji's blooming look of alarm once he realized the tension and the faces of those that watched him. Robin's eyes shot back and forth, darting around the room while Law looked at the reflection of the mirror behind the bar, turning in circles to locate the man that had been speaking to them. But the bar gave them nothing, and Law felt himself worry about not being able to see a ghost.

Touching his face lightly, Sanji stuttered, "Where's my glasses? I can't see…"

Luffy narrowed his eyes. "You're _very_ convincing as a blind man…"

Sanji gave him a stumped look, Robin touching Luffy's shoulder lightly, cradling them against her palms as she faced Sanji. "How do you feel?"

Noticing the lingering tension, Sanji exhaled slowly. "I remember acknowledging what happened. So…it was him, wasn't it?"

His face shifted with alarm as one hand crept to his hair, finding it shorn short and combed. He gasped with horror, Shachi shaking his head ever so slightly.

"I'm so _confused_ ," he bemoaned. "Are we pretending we know this person, or is this a different person?"

"Sanji," Penguin stated, hands on his hips, "where did you meet this guy?"

"On the street," Sanji said, locating the mirror behind the bar and gasping again.

"It looks better," Luffy said with uncertainty.

"Yeah, you can tell you cut it with some kid scissors, man," Shachi said with sympathy.

"I can trim it, if you'd like," Jean Bart offered solemnly. "I cut my own hair."

"And that's why _you_ look like a distinguished ape!" Penguin snapped at him before refocusing on Sanji. Jean Bart flipped Penguin off from behind, Shachi tutting at his friend. "And you said nothing about this? Look at the trouble caused - !"

"Before we start in on anything," Law interrupted, sheathing his weapon, "I did not see that man slip away. _Nothing_. No gleam, no presence – neither of you saw him, did you?"

"He appeared so suddenly next to me when I first met him," Sanji reported with discomforted, palm against his forehead in a show of self-consciousness. "Like he appeared out of thin air…"

"This was different from the time I allowed Eustess in," Sanji then mumbled. "This felt like…a…"

"You wouldn't have the experience to know correctly when you were possessed, and that's how these things get away with doing what they were doing," Law snapped, sheathing his sword with impatience. "That's why I tried to warn you."

"Robin," he then said crossly while Sanji scowled at him, plucking at his hair, "you say you've been watching. How could you not notice him skulking about, watching us?"

Robin smiled thinly at him. "Yet neither of us has noticed that Gin has walked away. Sanji," she said to the blonde while Law scowled, "when you noticed Gin was taking over, what was the first thing you noticed about the occupation?"

"He talked about needing a haircut!" Luffy interrupted. "On the street! He looked at himself in a window and started whining about his hair."

"Gin had very short hair," Robin confirmed while Sanji _did_ remember feeling out of sorts when he saw his reflection in the café window. "It would be the first time he'd seen himself in a very long time. From that point on, what do you remember differently?"

"Feeling like I couldn't breathe in my apartment. I opened every window," Sanji said slowly. "And I was…very hungry. Pretty sure the place is a mess right now. I felt…like a tired man recovering from…intense, emotional shock."

After some contemplation, he added, "we had a conversation when I grew aware of his presence."

Law looked at him sharply, hanging his banner case over one shoulder. "A conversation?"

Sanji nodded slowly. "Both of us addressed each other – "

"Before the layering?"

"No."

Law stared at him with confusion, while Sanji explained, "All he talked about was getting revenge for his dog. That he shouldn't be blamed for the crimes he'd supposedly committed. I feel like…he's telling the truth. The feelings behind it was all so raw and real…."

"Any ghost would convince you that they were if they felt it strongly enough, but he - !"

Robin cleared her throat delicately. Law gave an impatient sigh.

With some visible struggle, he muttered, "It's good to have a different perspective in something like this."

Sanji watched him cautiously for a few moments, then said quietly, "I understand my boundaries. I want to abide by your caution, but…if this thing is as separate as he says, then perhaps we should try to understand that he's telling the truth."

"Law," Robin said before the older man could speak, "trust."

"The only way we can be sure of this is if both of them were in the same place at the same time," Luffy insisted, hands in his pockets while wearing a confused frown. "So…how should we do that? He's mad at you, isn't he? That's why he came up to the place where we were."

"How did it know that's where you all were to attempt to cause a scene?" Law asked him.

"Because it's following _you_ around, stupid. Jeez, for a supposedly smart guy, you act dumb."

Law's face reddened as Luffy gave an impatient shake of his head. Sanji pulled his lips between his teeth to avoid showing expression. Penguin stared at Law with slow moving disdain while Shachi stared up at the bar's ceiling lights, enraptured by them.

"All I'm _suggesting_ ," Law said tightly, "is that both of them seem to be in the same _vicinity_ as the other, and is aware of the other's presence, which goes without explanation that our levels of suspicion should be unwavered."

"Take a breath, sometimes, old man," Luffy sighed. "Stop using such big words to sound impressive."

" _Get me a lock box_ ," Law hissed at Penguin furiously, who wiped his face with a surprised complaint.

"Say it, don't spray it!"

Hands up to placate the situation, Sanji eased between the older man and the teen that rubbed at his nose without any indication of distress to the man's growing temper. "Both of you are right in your own ways," he said slowly. "Luffy, Law is allowed his suspicions because of his experience, and Luffy, you're right – Law, it's following you around because it used you to impersonate. This other person – "

"What's the kid saying?" Shachi asked curiously. "Because Law never really gets that pissed unless he's being outmastered by some clever dude."

"You think I'm clever?" Luffy cried happily. "I think I just made a friend!"

"Wonderful!" Robin said with a bright smile.

"His name is Gin," Robin then supplied to Sanji.

Sanji nodded to thank her. "Gin…well, he was in the area when the tire went flat. But the other thing is a beast that uses shadows to keep its form – "

"But neither of you guys were actually looking for it, because _you_ were both busy having some kind of heart to heart," Penguin pointed out impatiently. Sanji gave him a long, irritated stare. "…I've beaten men for friendlier stares than that, _punk_."

"Stop the violence!" Shachi cried, hugging him from behind.

"We don't know for sure if they are separate entities," Jean Bart supplied over their rising voices. He wore a troubled expression, trying to follow the voices of the living to create an understanding of the matter. "That's the quandary, here. If they/it/he is upset at Law…then perhaps Trafalgar should make himself available for a conversation with either."

"That's right, give away our plans," Penguin snapped at him, hand thrusting in the air, "because it sounds to me like they're hanging around us, _all invisible_ , and seem to know what we're trying to do!"

"That's the problem," Robin said with a sigh.

"You said you were watching – were you watching him?" Law asked her. "Gin?"

"No."

"You were watching over me," Sanji said, sensing her lack of explanation was attributed to her method of, "don't ask, don't tell". "Robin, when you questioned him over the train situation, what were you alluding to?"

"There is a library downtown that has the archives you should seek," Robin said lightly. "Your answers could be found there. For me to give them aloud would be dangerous."

"Then we go to the library, because there's an answer there we should know about," Law said with some relief.

"It's so weird listening to a one-sided conversation," Shachi commented, scratching at his ear. "Because I hear two dudes talking in such a way that I get the gist of the subject, but not the context."

"This is why I'm so _angry_ all the time," Penguin snarled, fists at his sides.

"Somehow, it's the _government's_ fault, man! They're making us bonkers!"

Jean Bart sighed lightly.

"God, _books_ ," Luffy complained. "I hated libraries. Man, I hope you don't expect me to help in this part."

"Why can't you just flush the guy out again, _kill him_ , then wait and see if the other thing shows up? If that thing doesn't show up, then we did our part!" Penguin cried impatiently. "What does a library have to do with this mess?"

"It's a good thing your group relies on _your_ decisions," Robin told Law, turning away from them to walk through a nearby wall.

Law inhaled and exhaled patiently. "First…bathroom break. All that beer caught up."

" _Finally_ , man, I was _dying_ ," Shachi complained, prancing from foot to foot.

"Second, Jean Bart, layers. At this time, the library will be closed, and Shachi's expertise with technology will be valuable, at this point, in breaking into a locked facility."

"It's so amazing that I can be so smart," Shachi whispered with awe, fingers pressed to his mouth while Penguin groaned noisily.

"Penguin…your negativity will be useful," Law said slowly. "It's strong enough for that thing to be interested."

"Thanks….I think," Penguin muttered with a confused frown.

Law looked at Luffy, scowling down at the teen while Luffy looked up at him with a serious frown. "And you…make a point of noticing things. Be useful."

"I don't even know what this guy looks like, but I _guess_ I can pick out a stalker," Luffy said with a lack of confidence.

Law glanced at Sanji but walked away without saying anything, Shachi crying out in horror over a "group pee". Sanji frowned after him, unsure of what could be said.

: :

The library downtown was closed when they approached it. While the evening had comfortably settled in that streetlights were bright and the sky reflected the light from below with a light layering of clouds, it wasn't dark enough for them to approach without being noticed. Shachi was looking over his laptop – after being layered, he was now "modernized" in a hoodie with a vest, ripped jeans and sneakers, his "butchered" hair all swept back underneath a trucker's hat. He'd disposed of the hideous glasses he was wearing for some polarized Ray Bans and was snapping at some gum while his fingers flew over the laptop. Penguin watched him with a look of revulsion.

"I want to beat you soundly, but I'm not sure why," Penguin murmured with a thoughtful expression. " _Nerd_."

"Your love speaks volumes, buddy! There's not much of a security system in a library, but it is alarmed," Shachi said assuredly. "There's still a worker present – I hacked into the cameras, and she's hanging out at her desk, looking through Pinterest. The hallway to the archive section is in the basement – that's the only camera. To get there, we need to bypass the main desk where she's hanging out."

"Enhance that picture," Luffy commanded, tapping on the screen. "Enhance…enhance… _enhance_ …"

Shachi then wiggled with discomfort. "My back friggin' _hurts_ , guys. What the hell did you do to me?"

Sanji remembered that Luffy had slapped the man on the back, but he wondered why the redhead hadn't felt the injury until now.

"I told you, some ghost slapped the shit out of you for being a beatnik," Penguin told him impatiently, Shachi blinking at him.

"What's a beatnik?"

"LAW."

"Children, _please_ ," Law said, rubbing at his temples. The van was crowded with everyone's presence, and Jean Bart drank calmly from an opened can. He wanted to talk to Sanji, but it seemed that they just couldn't achieve any privacy with so much happening. At the moment, Law was wrestling with himself – he wanted to say something about Sanji's newly cut hair; give him some awkward compliment; express _something_ about his concerns over Gin's appearance; _something_ , _anything_ , but there were too many people around them to say anything. ( _coward_ )

As much as he was obsessing over that moment on the sidewalk, it seemed Sanji wasn't taking any offence. He was staring out the window with a frown, occasionally catching his reflection to fiddle with his hair with self-conscious combing and petting. Law could see his movements from the corner of his eye.

They were sitting side by side, and though the concept was very obvious, he wanted to rest his leg against the other's, if only just to touch him casually. But it felt awkward. He _felt_ awkward. Admittedly, it was hard to focus on what they were doing when he was just so aware of the other man next to him.

"It doesn't make sense that we're doing this," Penguin then complained from the front passenger seat, forehead against the closed window. Shachi minimized the window he was watching, revealing an anime girl in a bikini as his wallpaper as he found another window. Luffy looked at him with revulsion as Shachi logged onto Youtube to search for the latest memes. Sanji stared out the window, hands folded in his lap as he struggled not to be drawn into the rising tension within the van. Law was very tense next to him, emitting some powerful strain that made Sanji think he should be on the offence, and he didn't understand _why_.

"He attacked the van," Jean Bart then said from the driver's seat, watching the main road from the quiet, dimly light area they were parked in. "Shredded a tire so badly so that we were forced to linger in the area. The puncture wasn't caused by a knife or other sharp object, Law. It was shredded right off the rim. There are claw marks visible right on the metal."

Law nodded to acknowledge this. _Focus_.

"Was it the demon? Or was it Gin? And why do so if he just wanted to talk?" Jean Bart shook his head. "Something fishy here, and I'm just not sure what it is…"

"At this point, we don't know if they're separate entities," Law murmured. "How was he an individual to take over Sanji when the demon was but an animal when it hitched a ride through me? Sanji, you didn't feel like an animal, did you?"

"No…" Sanji answered with a furrowed brow. "I felt very human."

"My audio and scent senses were enhanced, while I was…vaguely agitated," Law mumbled with remembrance over this morning's actions. "But I did not realize what was happening until Sanji brought attention to it."

"Gleams are capable of being layered in such a way that they can piggyback atop of one another, and this is something we already know," Jean Bart said. "Perhaps they were piggybacking atop of each other, with the demon being the stronger being, and perhaps Gin escaped its clutches…but _how_?"

"Gleams pick off their host's nature," Law then said to Sanji directly, who felt heavy with insecurity and confusion, "and take on those individual quirks. But you mentioned you had a conversation with him while he was layered over you."

"It was a very real thing because my voice changed every time," Sanji said.

"That's impossible."

"It happened. I was facing a mirror. Every time he spoke, my face…did that thing, and his voice was the one coming out of me," Sanji reported with hesitation. "It was very odd…"

"None of the layers Law wore ever did such a thing," Jean Bart said, looking at them through the rearview mirror. "For an entity to have the strength to do that…one has to question whether it was actually Gin or not. You all said it attempted to copy Law's physical form."

"Why can't this broad just be straight up with us?" Penguin asked with impatience, glaring out the window. "Why come to a library to read about some dumb shit?"

"It's an old building," Shachi said, snapping his gum. "It was once part of a property years ago that included an old mill. _That_ place was paved down and removed to what you see now! They bulldozed most of the building down to erect this one in 1990, but the archive is located right where the original foundation was, so it's got history inside of it."

"And _so_?"

"Leftover paranormal residue, my angry dude. Residue reacts with _certain_ personalities," Shachi stressed, thumb indicating the pair behind him.

"But Robin had to leave town to find out her information," Law said with uncertainty. "She didn't find it here."

"Then this building is a mystery!" Shachi exclaimed, muting his video.

"Maybe we're not _reading_ something," Sanji said slowly, "but meeting _someone_ who knows better."

"If we meet another weirdo, I swear to god…" Penguin mumbled, fixing his hair.

"Surely your past adventures brought you to the place already," Sanji said. "So shouldn't you know who is there?"

"No, because we're usually just _killing_ ," Penguin muttered against the glass, fogging it ever so slightly with his breath.

"How many boxes do we have left?" Law asked Jean Bart.

"After inventory, after Shachi, about twenty," Jean Bart replied. "The ones we've lost have definitely put a hole in the supply."

Wearing a pensive expression, Law considered his options. Sanji furrowed his brow. "That time I was in there, there were rows upon rows of boxes…"

"Many have faded, and I'm using the oldest ones we have. Naturally…they find their way," Law murmured. "Whomever it was that destroyed the layers I was wearing that night…destroyed all of them. Which added to the hole."

 _I don't get it_ , Sanji thought with a bewildered face. _If gleams naturally fade…then why hasn't Robin vanished? Or Gin_?

He then pressed a hand to his chest, feeling alarmed. _Is he absolutely positive_ he's _gone_ … _?_ _What if I'm him and don't realize it…_?

 _Is it okay that one's interest resembles the last_? Law wondered with indecision. _Is it okay to admire someone just because he looks like him? It_ isn't _him, though, so what if it's only misunderstood…? Am I an asshole_?

"She's leaving," Shachi reported, glancing out the window. All of them watched as the lights dimmed considerably within the building, and the last worker walked briskly to her car in the parking lot nearby. Shachi pulled up his screens, Luffy looking over his shoulder skeptically. "In ten minutes, I will turn off the alarms and _buzz_ out that camera facing the archives door. Then it's all up to you."

"I brought along extras," Jean Bart assured Law. "In the back."

Law exhaled uneasily. Sanji could see that he was visibly wrestling with himself.

"Did you piss enough, or do you gotta do it again?" he asked with irritation, because the man's tension was driving him _insane_. "Because you're so tense that it's suspicious…"

 _I needed that_ , Law thought with relief. His body relaxed ever so slightly, and he could feel it in the relaxation of his shoulders and legs. _I needed him to_ say _something_.

"What I don't get is if they were watching us," Penguin mumbled, combing his hair thoughtfully over his face, "is why they just don't mob in and kick our ass? Why draw it out?"

"How many cases have we completed throughout the years, bro?" Shachi asked him, Ray Bans shoved up his nose as he snapped at his gum.

"A lot," Penguin stressed.

"And sometimes, ghost-bros comment on that they knew who we were, right?"

"…Yeah…I guess…"

"So, goes to say that dude knows who we are. Our rep extends through the otherworld to make ghosts uneasy. This guy knows our rep – be best to stand by and prepare instead."

"Makes sense…"

"Probably makes it a little more difficult knowing that there is someone that can touch them like they're still alive," Jean Bart added.

"Ripping ghostie hearts out like freaking _Scorpion_!" Shachi laughed, reaching over Law to push Sanji's shoulder while Sanji cringed at the memory, prompting him to wipe his hand on his jeans. Luffy looked at the blond with wide eyes.

Hand on his chest, he asked Sanji, "you can do that?"

"Let's get this over with," Law muttered, pushing at Shachi to let them out.

: :

Fifteen minutes later, Luffy stared at Law with mute silence while Sanji uncomfortably shrugged on the long black jacket Law often coated himself with. This Law in front of them was pulling on the brown jacket Sanji was wearing with a satisfied exhale. The man, once layered with the gleams Jean Bart had brought along, had taken on a different stance and manner that made the younger pair uncomfortable.

He'd slicked his hair back with hair gel Jean Bart kept in the glove compartment, teeth clamped around a toothpick. His chin jutted out ever so slightly, shoulders up and back with a rigid stance. He'd removed his tie and unbuttoned his shirt to show off his tattoos. Shachi held onto his laptop with an embarrassed cringe while Penguin's lips were curled with disgust.

"Who's this guy?" Luffy asked. Law looked down at him – a dart of his eyes to take in the boy's appearance with nothing more than dismissal. He then looked around himself with consideration, adjusting the jacket subtly at his shoulders.

"This place stinks," Law muttered, toothpick fluttering at his lips. "What a shit house. At least the sea masks those smells…"

"Sir, your shirt's rather…slovenly," Penguin pointed out dully.

"You giving me fashion tips, son?"

 _Southern accent_? Sanji wondered, furrowing his brow as he focused on the sound.

Penguin's chin lifted ever so slightly. "There's that strange urge to beat someone to a pulp again…it gets stronger every time I look at you."

"I'd like to see it happen. You'll find yourself walking away with a shaved head, and I promise you, I _do not_ have a knife on me. I'll just use my di – "

"SCIENCE says you can't actually do that," Shachi interjected hastily once he recognized where this was going.

"I was going to say _teeth_ , son. Don't get your moist panties in a wad."

"Some of these gleams haven't been used in a long while," Jean Bart said apologetically to Sanji and Luffy, "and one of them was an old vice admiral from the Navy some years back. We actually removed him an old warship on the east coast years ago…"

"Enough chatter, we got us a job to do," Law snapped, voice surprisingly commanding. Shachi mockingly saluted him, Penguin crossing his arms over his chest with stubborn disdain. "You jokes stay here, watch the perimeters. For fuck's sake, be a man about it. Jean Bart, the vehicle should be running. Considering the adversary, it'd be unwise to be unprepared."

"What do _we_ do, sir?" Luffy asked him tentatively.

Law looked at him and Sanji once again, lip curling. " _Bait_. Once the shooting starts, either handle it or cover me so I could."

Sanji rolled his eyes while Luffy saluted him clumsily. "Wow. The _machismo_ from all these old eras is one big clusterfuck of shitty combinations..."

"You want me to be more feminine, consider your _feelings_?" Law asked him, eyebrow lifted as his hands settled at his hips. Sanji couldn't help but briefly admire the sight of his tattooed flesh, incredulous how all those muscles flexed with the simplest of movements. He adjusted his borrowed jacket with embarrassed discomfort ( _it's been too long_ …!). "I'll do it when you're dead. More useful to me then. You can take point, know-it-all."

"Lucky bastard," Luffy whispered enviously to Sanji.

"You're a _ghost_. You can do whatever the fuck you want," Sanji reminded him, Luffy looking at him with a start.

"Just remember," Jean Bart whispered to Sanji, "the stronger the gleam, the stronger _he_ is. You'll be using him to get in and out of the place. Also, don't worry about his attitude, too much. Despite his appearance, he's actually quite just and won't allow harm to come to you."

Sanji looked at Law with doubt, watching him remove the toothpick from his mouth with visible disgust before stuffing it back between his teeth. "But there's more than one layer, so why is one just…taking over?"

"The stronger the gleam…more personality chips will show through, it's not just this one."

Law looked over at them with impatience. After adjusting the banner case strap around his chest, he removed the lid, pulling on the sword's handle to allow it enough room for him to grab comfortably. "Giving away my secrets, corporal? No matter. _Let's go_. I'm not wasting all my time jabbering away about nothing."

Sanji watched Law and Luffy stalk to the library, Luffy attempting to mimic the rather confident stride the older man had. He rolled his eyes to the sky, but couldn't help but draw the jacket collar up to his nose so he could better inhale the scent lingering on the fabric.

: :

The silence in the library was thick and tense. While it didn't have the same inviting atmosphere as the bookstore, it felt like every room and hall was full of life. Their footsteps were heavy on the gleaming floor, Luffy tripping over various obstacles with light curses. Not that every level was dark – the lights were lit in various panel groups here and there, allowing them enough light to see it all. The library was two stories, broad, but it seemed the shelves of books were overpowered by open areas designated for plays, children's play areas and activity sections. Conference rooms were closed, demanding a key from the librarian to access.

"Scout ahead of us, kid," Law directed Luffy with a wave of his head, indicating a forward direction. He pulled his sword out from the case, brandishing the weapon with a flick before resting it over one shoulder. "I need to speak privately with this one, here."

" _Aw_ , man, don't leave me out of an important conversation!" Luffy complained.

"Ya wanna hear some private stuff? Then stick around."

"Let's not do this right now," Sanji suggested as Luffy made a face and hurried forward. "Whatever is private can wait for an appropriate time."

"This shit is bothering me," Law stressed, stopping in mid-step to look down at him, toothpick flicking from side to side. He wore a reluctant expression as Sanji crossed his arms defensively, frowning at him. His fingers clenched tightly around the purple rope so that it made a slight sound of protest. The blade gleamed brilliantly underneath the dull ceiling lights above them. "I'm too aware of you. This task? Is nothing but background noise until I get this situation right."

Sanji reluctantly considered his words. With some tentative action ( _for his own concentration really_ ), he reached up and buttoned up the white shirt while the man watched him. Once he had the collar stiffly straightened, he nodded. "Okay. Go ahead. Your man boobs are really distracting. They're too proud."

"I didn't mean to reject you back there," Law told him (quite sternly, his southern accent heavy with remorse), "but don't take it personal. I don't know how to ask for an invitation. I don't know how to accept an invitation. This shit is awkward."

Sanji wasn't sure what to say, wearing a puzzled expression while he understood that this gleam was speaking upon the stronger of Law's quirks. _The truth_ , he realized. _This is the truth. But spoken from another man's lips...should I be angry he can only speak truthfully in that sense? No…because I did it, too_.

"Different people," Law murmured, toothpick flicking about, "but similarities are present. It freaks me out. Because I know it's different, it's not the same, but I'm not sure if it's okay for me to accept because some mannerisms are similar to his, so…"

"Like cheating on a twin, kiddo," he added awkwardly. "I know I can't be with one, but is it alright to be with another from the same family?"

"Oh, what a question to ask," Sanji murmured with consternation. "Because I don't know how to answer that shit."

"Look." Sword settled over one shoulder, one of Law's palms were upright and out. "Let's get this straight."

"None of this is straight…?"

"Both of us have feelings for each other. That ain't something to deny. It's obvious. You know it, I know it. You think I don't notice that hungry look on your face every time you stare at my impressive chest?"

Sanji bloomed with color and looked away with mortification. Smirking, Law said, "And you can't pretend that I don't look at you like I'm afraid of losing something. I believe we already made this clear, right?"

Sanji nodded, jaw moving from side to side. He made to hide behind his hair, but it was cut too short for him to find safety behind a frizzy screen. It hung like a blond wall over his glasses and grazed the bridge of his nose and ears like a curtain.

"I'm an awkward man, kid," Law continued with a grim shake of his head, "it's been some time since I allowed myself some softness. Don't let that discourage you."

"But I mean…it'd help if you, no matter how it looks, tried, too," Sanji said slowly, stumbling because this strange man was looking at him from Law's face and it was so very _awkward_. "Like…sometimes I want to be touched too, y'know? Acknowledged. You try very hard not to, and…sometimes I think if you want to just do it, just…fucking do it."

"You were spoiled rotten by that other guy, weren't ya?" Law asked with thinly disguised disdain.

"I didn't like men until _he_ approached me, so I know for a fact touch is a powerful thing," Sanji snapped at him indignantly. "I went from hating men to being – molested in a back alley and liking it! So, yes, I realize the power of touch, and even if you can't say something, something that's very difficult to say – just… _touch_ me. I'm afraid to touch you because you – act like I've just burnt you, so…I need that reassurance from you, too."

"This is good, see, this communication is good between us," Law encouraged him, unbuttoning his collar to breathe. _His accent slipped_ , Sanji realized, looking at him cautiously. Sure enough, Law's rigid shoulders dropped and he was clasping his hands together ( _blade of his sword coming dangerously close to his neck_!) and he seemed to arch in a feminine manner. "What pitiful fools we are, we deserve _all_ the negativity that happens because we can't even be real with ourselves! I suggest that you go back and do it all over again! None of this is cute!"

He stiffened, then resorted back to the vice admiral while Sanji watched him with goosebumps breaking out over his neck and arms. Fixing his hair, Law resumed his earlier stance like it hadn't happened.

 _I can't take him seriously_ , Sanji thought with horror. He cupped his mouth with one hand, trying not to become hysterical.

"Yes, we are fools," he shakily agreed.

"After I say these things, I don't understand why it's that hard to express it in the first place," Law then murmured with difficulty. "It's a relief to get it off my chest."

He unbuttoned a few more buttons from his shirt, the stripes of the heart starting to grow visible. Sanji focused elsewhere to concentrate on the conversation. Studying the other man for a few moments, Law reached out to touch him – Sanji prevented that with a hand to lightly slap it away.

"You're welcome to continue this when you're you," he said firmly. "You're speaking from another's mouth, intending on touching with another's hand, and it's _yours_ I want those things from. Anything else in that form – is disloyalty."

"Fair. I needed to clear the air. I am relieved that it went well. Where's that brat?" Law then asked, looking around for Luffy. "I told him to scout ahead, not hide like an ass."

They continued forward, Sanji exhaling lightly. Once he noticed movement from the other man, he snapped impatiently, "Could you _stop_ undressing yourself?"

"My skin can't breathe." Pausing short, Law tensed ever so slightly while Sanji frowned up at him with bewilderment to that statement. Luffy stepped out from the restroom corridor, face tense with concentration, and Sanji realized that the air had a slight crackling sound in it. It made him think of black tipped hands, and his senses jolted with recognition. He heard something whisper against the carpeted floor nearby, nearly at the same time as sneakers hit the floor. From the corner of his eye, Sanji saw Law turn with sword at defensive angling while Luffy flung himself at them.

Sanji heard a slap of impact, so he whirled around in time to see Luffy launch himself to kick a man right off his feet. At the same time, the telltale hissing of static behind him told him that Law was facing off with the thing that used the shadows around it to build in strength and form.

"Luffy," Law barked, in defensive stance as the demon's spikes began to vibrate with noise, red eyes blooming red as the lights dimmed even further above it.

Seeing his task accomplished, Luffy made a fist then turned to Sanji, fingertips raised and body curved over. " _Fusion Dance_ , _Sanji_!" he ordered, wiggling his fingers as Gin slowly picked himself up from the floor. "Hurry! Our lives depend on it!"

" _Hell no,_ I'm not doing some dumb dance - !" Sanji started to snarl when Law barked his name with command. With an irritated sigh, Sanji touched Luffy's wiggling fingers. In moments he took on a defensive stance, fists at the ready. "Time to kick some ass and smoke some grass, boys!"

"Not it, punk!" Law snapped at him, the creature lowering itself to snarl viciously at them, Gin watching the men from his position with a hint of a smirk to his lips. "Get serious, you don't know what could happen, here."

"Oh, I'm _way_ serious," Luffy assured him with Sanji's face ( _jacket flung off and abandoned on the floor_ ). "I can't wait to kick some bony ghost ass! Shit stain on my life right now, because I don't know what I'm doing, but I'm gonna do it with ultimate confidence! This is what I love!"

"You got _too_ much love," Law muttered, toothpick moving from side to side. "Doesn't make sense that you're here without a treasured item like the rest of us."

"Let's not worry about that right now," Luffy told him, grinning. "Inconsequential to the activity at hand!"

 _Robin_ , Law thought crossly. _Where'd you find this kid_?


	10. Chapter 10

**10: If The Right One Came Along**

* * *

The demonic creature ( _doglike in form, save for the spikes on the shoulders and for the fact that it was oozing filmy black bubbles_ ), rose on its curved back legs. The beady red eyes seemed to shimmer with color as mottled teeth opened to reveal a filmy black mouth. Seeing it from the distance caused a viewer to think it was an animal, but the creature was a mixture of human-like features and yet absolutely convincing that it was something that clawed its way up from Hell. The smell it emitted was rotting eggs and smoke, strange liquids causing its every movement a squishing sound.

Law watched it cautiously, toothpick moving from side to side as the creature took up most of the space in front of the front desk. Pamphlets fluttered to the floor as the creature's tail bumped it, spilling pens to the tile. The computer monitor rattled as the demon began a slow, predatory movement away from the desk, black tipped hands stretching and palming onto the gleamy white floor. Dirty fingernails scraped against the tile as fingers clenched and unclenched.

Law was aware that Gin was starting a slow half circle behind him; he could feel Sanji – _Luffy_ – against his back. The man's body had a seeming modification in him – instead of moving in a slouched, slow pace fitting for his insecure stance, his body felt like it were strumming with energy. Law wanted to at least see the expression on Gin's face to see what the ghost was intending on doing. The fact that Luffy attacked him in the first place was enough to have his suspicions heightened to his action. What was Gin intending?

The demon hissed, spilling oily black drool over its curled lips ( _like facing off with one of those Xenomorphs, Law thought vaguely_ ). It emitted a barking sound, like an animal – but it also held a word. Law caught the formation with a slight smirk.

"So, you _can_ speak," he said tightly, fingers tightening around the shaft of his weapon. "Speak to me, boy. What's on your blasted mind?"

"That sounded like a bark to me," Luffy said with uncertainty. "You should be asking _this_ guy the questions. Hey, Gin, what's up? Looked like you were creeping in close for something…"

"My intentions were basic," Gin answered roughly. "I knew it was here."

"And yet, you have us pinned," Law pointed out without looking away from the demon.

"Well," Gin admitted, his voice low and gruff, "if it succeeded, then I'd have a chance to get rid of it myself. Unfortunately, I left something on that guy, there, and I'm only useful with it in my hands."

"The knife?" Luffy asked clumsily, lowering a fist to pat at the messenger bag at his hip. He could feel the shape of it in there. "The _big_ knife? You were going for that? I assume it isn't for cutting sandwiches."

"Not exactly," Gin agreed.

"You feel comfort in the weapon. I remember you thinking that you missed your own knife," Luffy said low, with Sanji's intonation. "Kinda weird that I remember that feeling."

Law lifted an eyebrow, wanting to look away from the demon that stopped its slow, careful movement, hands flattened against the floor. It seemed to tense. He didn't hear Gin reply, but he could sense Luffy tensing up all over again, sneakers squeaking against the floor.

The demon hissed low, lowering its head ever so slightly. Law watched it, allowing a smirk to lighten his expression. "What's your motive, demon? You angry about something? Let's talk it out."

"You've come to defeat me," the demon hissed, its voice tonal and shifting with a water gurgle. Its words were tinged with an accent Law couldn't place. He was blasted with a sensation in knowing that this thing wasn't speaking aloud – he was hearing its words from deep _inside_ of himself. Sure enough, now that Law had noticed, the mouth was trembling ever so slightly – like a badly moving puppet, or a bad lag in audio dubbing. "Wandered into my chosen home to destroy me. _Who_ was I harming?"

"Ah, I thought this was your problem," Law answered. "So, you got offended by my mere presence. Admittedly, I have some concerns about your true purpose here in my hometown."

"Those that wander into the forest already have intentions that fit my method of survival," the demon growled, narrowing its eyes. "Their deaths, their worn, weary spirits – are my meals. I learn of humans this way – absorb their last moments and their last memories to stay up to date on this changing world. And you want to destroy me!"

"I know of you," it continued, moving fluidly a few steps around Law, forcing him to move in order to continue facing it, "because the last I'd eaten had your image in their memory."

"Flattering that the living know of me," Law murmured. "Considering it's not their lives I'm interested in."

Luffy wore a confused expression throughout this exchange. All he could hear was Law talking aloud, the creature growling in muted noises that didn't exactly fit a verbal conversation.

"You are like me. Feeding off those that shed their shells," the demon snarled at Law. "What makes us different?"

"There isn't much of a difference," Law answered carefully, sword lowered ever so slightly. The blade gleamed underneath the dimmed library lights above. "But you _did_ possess someone and allowed him supernatural powers that he claims was used to feed you while slaughtering the living. I take the afterlives of the dead. Most of which are nuisances."

"That was _years_ before I found the forest," the demon snapped, oily drool splashing the air. The teeth Law saw were discolored, blackened and mottled, flattened like a human's. He expected sharper points. "Why am I being punished now?"

"The fact that you can use a living being is cause of concern for me," Law said. "You may show interest in someone like me that can use gleams for strength. The forest may not provide anymore, considering today's efforts to assist with severe mental health, and you'll venture out for more sustenance. So…it's time to nip it in the bud before it has a chance to bloom."

" _That_ was your intention?" the demon hissed, moving from side to side, as if trying to determine which direction to attack from, first. Law followed its movement, Luffy nearly tripping against him as Law forced him to move. In this position, Gin was now visible from the corner of his eye. Law's eyes darted towards the ghost, seeing that the hooded figure was just standing there – hands at his sides but his visible mouth pulled into a light smirk of his own.

Luffy resumed his stance, taking the time to frown at Law and the angry creature he faced off with. His rounded eyes darted here and there before looking at Law with a disappointed frown.

"Wanna trade spots?" he whispered. "Looks like your guy wants to fight. Mine's just standing here, staring at me."

Law nudged him away. " _Focus_ , brat. Any wrong move of ours could be our last one. This one is singing all the right words to me – you just keep an eye on that one. We don't know what his intentions are."

"After having a taste of this city," the demon continued, extending its neck upward while lifting onto its back legs in a crouch, hands rubbing together ( _like a cartoon dragon, Law thought_ ), "I could use extra. I could flourish forever, here."

"Also something I would like to prevent," Law said. "The fact that you can take on different forms to impersonate another is alarming."

"After having a taste of your life," the demon said, "I could sustain myself for a very _long_ time."

It once again propped itself up on all fours, looking Law over with a wide grin. "I could live forever doing what you're doing, and it wouldn't be killing the living. I could see and pursue the dead as I have been doing. Doesn't that sound fine? It would be for the same purposes as yours."

"I don't negotiate with demons, _demon_ ," Law told him firmly, the tip of his blade up against the creature's lower jaw. Its skin shriveled and hissed, causing the demon to lurch backward with a surprised snarl. "My goal will still be its goal – getting rid of you will lower my blood pressure and a nice, concise check off my To-Do List."

The demon hissed at him. "Then it stands to show that _your_ shell will be my newest home!"

Law smirked at it, releasing one hand to curl his fingers towards himself in an invitation for the demon to attack. That same arm nudged Luffy's head from behind, indicating that he back up.

Luffy looked back at him with an insulted gesture, watching Gin warily as the ghost continued to stand still and silent, his expression unmoving. Gin's hood fluttered as he reached up to lower it around his neck. His dark eyes moved from Luffy to beyond Law, watching the creature seethe noisily as it paced in front of Law. He licked dry, cracked lips as Luffy's eyes coasted over and around him with some confusion.

"Law, you can see him, can't you?" Luffy asked.

"Why ask such an obvious question?" Law snapped back at him impatiently.

"You normally don't see _all_ ghosts," Luffy continued, Sanji's voice distinctively audible in that question. "Mostly just those with a strong gleam, right?"

"…yes?"

"Then where is his?"

Law chanced a glance back to look at Gin, who silently watched the exchange with a slightly interested expression. He was once again focused on the demon, whose pace began to increase, filmy shadows building around it.

"I don't know," he confessed tightly.

Luffy looked back at Gin with determination. "Your fight is for your dog, right? Then help us take it down!"

"We don't know his true intentions!" Law hissed back at him incredulously, toothpick flung to the other side of his mouth. "After I deal with this, _then_ we talk."

"Gin! Doggy justice!"

Gin snorted. He lifted his hands, which were stained with dirt and blood, his fingernails dirty. Luffy's eyes immediately shot to them, some thin veil of understanding shooting through him.

"I don't have a weapon," Gin said tautly. "You expect me to fight something like that with my bare hands?"

"I'm not giving you this knife," Luffy warned, almost breathlessly. His facial features shifted subtly. "I guess we'll deal with you later."

The demon shot forward, teeth missing Law by inches. He shifted his stance, drawing his blade over the creature's exposed throat but those hands gripped him by his brown jacket and he found himself flung through the air like a discarded toy. He slammed through book shelves in a collusion of sound – bending metal and causing books to fly. Once he lost momentum, shelves slammed against one another in a domino effect.

Luffy twisted to face the thing once Law was out of his way, the demon lunging in on him. He threw a few quick jabs to keep it at a distance while shuffling backwards, missing that demonic face as it lurched from side to side. He launched up into a kick that connected shoe to jaw, watching its head bounce up and back. Its startled gurgle was short-lived before he threw a hard haymaker right into its left orbital ridge. It lost its balance and crumbled before catching itself hastily with its hands fumbling against the floor, back feet scraping against the tile. Its red eyes widened with shock.

Luffy looked at his fist, knuckles red and stinging. He gripped it with his other hand, whispering, " _Ow_."

Then he laughed noisily. "I never kicked anything in my life! Ace only taught me how to box! Where'd that come from?"

Law picked himself up from the mess, dusting himself off. Gripping his sword, he walked back over, tilting his head from side to side. "That was stupid. But now I got a gauge of that thing's strength."

Luffy glanced towards Gin, seeing the shift in his expression. He couldn't tell what Gin was thinking, but his frown seemed to have deepened, his eyes narrowing as they cast from the men to the demon that hissed at them. His dirty hands were clenched at his sides, and though he stood with a sense of non-threat, Luffy couldn't trust keeping his eyes off him. He touched the messenger bag on his hip, exhaling slow as Law reached him.

"They're still connected," Luffy told Law grimly, voice lowered.

"I kill him, I hurt it?"

"You _can't_ kill him."

Law looked at him with exasperation. "Getting rid of them both will solve the problem just fine."

"If Gin doesn't have a gleam, it doesn't make sense for you to take it."

"Stop arguing with me with that face. It pisses me off," Law snapped at him, Luffy looking at him with bewilderment. Law wiped his free hand off on his jeans, facing the demon. "Tell me, soul sucker, how do I detach you from that man, there?"

The demon didn't answer, teeth glowing with a smirk before lunging forward. Instead of attacking, it sunk into the floor before Law, filmy bubbles bursting just before the linoleum. Law shoved Luffy aside, the layered blond flopping to the side before catching himself as Law's body turned transparent, leaving only his sword handling arm visible. The demon reappeared moments later, teeth clasping around nothing as it intended on biting him from below, its entire body shooting upward from the floor with a burst of blackened smoke and film. Law jerked around as Luffy gaped at the sight of him, watching as Law swung in measured swings to rip shreds from the demon's body as it then lunged away.

It howled, rattling the lights above as its skin shredded in visible marks, smoke hissing from them. It once again disappeared through the floor, Law remaining transparent as he concentrated on the floor.

"How'd you do that – _oh my god_ , you really are Danny Phantom, aren't you?" Luffy gasped with wonder. Law's eyes jerked to him, and he was at him in moments, shoving him away with his solid forearm before the demon reappeared, mouth gaping and narrowly missing Luffy by inches. Law stabbed downwards, blade effectively slamming through the demon's opened cavity, causing it to spasm with agony before forcefully ripping itself away from the weapon. It opened up its throat and chest cavity, spilling out hissing smoke and oily fluids that immediately stained the floor.

It spasmed violently, choking on its own secretions, shoulder spikes jiggling with its movements as it attempted to cover its wounds. But seconds after achieving space, both men watched as the wounds slowly stitched over and closed. The demon coughed and sputtered, using both hands to brace itself against the floor before looking at them venomously.

Its eyes narrowed, it croaked, "You've achieved something I've never seen before. Using the souls of those you've stolen for parlor tricks. Aren't you considered a demon yourself?"

"I don't work for any immortals. I take or debit card, or just cold hard cash," Law assured him. "Mostly from the living."

"Maybe I should do that," Luffy murmured to himself thoughtfully. "I could avoid going to college and just get rich fighting ghosts - !"

"You're already dead!" Law reminded him with irritation, toothpick spat out. It was replaced with another from his inside jacket pocket as Luffy looked at him with renewed horror.

" _Quit reminding me of that_!"

The demon attacked again, forcing Luffy to hurl himself out of the way while Law visibly flickered, allowing the creature's form to pass through him. He whirled, blade cutting through the creature's back and causing it to scream as it cringed. It turned rapidly, its wound hissing behind it as it fixed itself. Law noticed the shadows lingering within the library underneath the dim ceiling lights pulling around it.

"Luffy," he commanded, "find the lights and turn them on full blast."

"Aw, man, that's _lame_ \- !"

"DO IT!"

With a huge sigh, turning away from the sight of Law attacking the demon with his blade flashing with his movement, Luffy turned and scanned the walls for light switches. At that moment, Gin caught his attention. He spotted the ghost standing against the wall near the front entrance door – clearly pointing at a set of light dimmers. Luffy brightened, hurrying in that direction.

"Thanks, man!" he said, reaching for one of the knobs. He drew back with a start when Gin purposefully stepped in front of them, dirty hands tucked into his pants pockets.

"The knife," he said low, watching the teen frown at him. "The knife for the lights."

"Why should I trust you?" Luffy asked accusingly. Gin's expression didn't shift, but he reached out and pushed lightly on Luffy's head. For a moment, ghost and the living being shifted into two, Luffy flailing back to steady himself and Sanji coming to awareness for that split second. Luffy reattached himself stubbornly, Sanji's facial expression changing to reflect the boy's face.

"You shouldn't," Gin answered, hands once again tucked into his pants pockets. "But you're going to need help fighting that thing."

Luffy watched him for a few moments, thinking rapidly. _My mom was able to hurt the living_ , he thought clumsily, memories scattered but recalling a memory of a blond, frustrated woman reaching out to push him ( _no, not him – Sanji_ ). _Corazon told me that any contact with the living can hurt them. That's what this was. I took the hit on Sanji_.

"Both of you have the same hands," he stated slowly. "So how do I know you're trying to help?"

"You don't. And there's nothing I can say to convince you otherwise," Gin said with confidence. "It's a leap of faith."

"We came here to find out the truth," Luffy stated. "So, after that – then I can rely on my own trust."

Gin's chin tilted upward ever so slightly. "Even once you find your truth, you won't like what you'll find. So trusting me now would be your advantage."

 _Boundaries, Sanji_ , Luffy heard Law say, and he had to glance back to see if the man was addressing him. But once he saw that Law was driving the demon away from them, rattling windows and nimbly avoiding the spilled books of broken shelves, Luffy realized it was just his memory ( _Sanji's_ ). Luffy clenched his fists.

"Step away from the lights, sir," he said firmly. "Or I'll remove you myself."

Gin's expression didn't shift, nor did he move. Luffy cocked a fist, bracing himself to punch when he noticed Gin's eyes shifting from his face to beyond him. He didn't hesitate – he jumped out of the way as Gin lunged into the other direction, the demon slamming through the wall with a loud roar of sound. The wall shattered outward, revealing a stairway that was plunged into darkness. The lights fluttered overhead, then died out.

"I said turn them _on_ , not off!" Law barked with exasperation from somewhere behind them, the demon rattling the stairway as it struggled to right itself. The hand railing shuddered noisily, pieces of wood and brick raining down onto the stairs. "Figures I can't trust a kid to do a man's job."

Luffy whirled around to glare at him, then searched the darkness for the ghost he was addressing. Before he could do anything, the demon lurched up and over onto the floor, cramming its large body through the hole it had made. It heaved heavy breathing noises and grunts, hands finding purchase on the floor. Luffy retreated backward with unease, standing abreast of Law as Law calmly stood there, toothpick nudged from side to side.

"That guy disappeared again," he mentioned, Luffy squinting hard as he struggled to use the light from outside of the building to search for Gin. "I can see just fine in the dark. That thing snatch him up?"

"No, he got out of the way in time. You got some sort of cat-ghost in there, too? Man, you're so extra!"

"So, he working with it, or not? You were standing there, chatting his ears off, surely you found out some useful information."

"I'm _trying_ to find some information!" Luffy said with exasperation, the demon's back paws scraping against the floor as it righted itself. It shook itself wildly, dislodging debris from its fur. "I don't know if he's on our side or not!"

Law made to speak when a ramming force from behind him sent him onto his hands and knees, sword clattering to the floor. Luffy looked just in time to see Gin disappearing out of his sight, but his side vision caught sight of new movement. There was an older man picking himself off the floor, looking startled while Law breathed heavy, breath gusting over the dirtied floor. The older man – _with swept back hair, a hard jaw and steel, angry eyes_ – looked from Law to Luffy, his expression drawing with confusion. Luffy saw hands emerge from Law's back, fluttering out like wings before revealing themselves as multiple sets. Various people popped out from the man like they were drowning, floundering noisily in multiple voices and grasping fingers. Most of them looked as if they were popping out from Law's back like forced daisies. Luffy didn't know what to think as the demon shifted about, smacking its lips.

Law heaved for breath, head bowed for a moment before lifting. "Knife," he snarled out, in a voice Luffy had heard just moments earlier. Bewildered, Luffy froze in silence as he realized Law's body language spoke of a struggle. " _Get out_ \- ! Give me the _fucking_ knife – get out of – _knife_!"

"Did you just – push out all the people he was using just to take up all the space?" Luffy asked with confusion, aware that the demon was moving as multiple people noisily bespoke of their confusing surroundings. "Get your damn sword!"

"Kid, instead of talking, get to action," the older man snapped at Luffy, stepping over Law to approach him. "Clearly he ain't in no control."

Luffy looked to the demon with eyes that steadily grew large on his face, hearing Law curse noisily as he struggled to rise to his feet. The man buttoned up his shirt, hands shaking with the task as his expressions shifted with a noticeable lag. Law dropped to his knees once more, panting heavily as his shoulders shifted and shook. Luffy lunged forward to grab the abandoned sword on the floor, his fingers uncomfortable with the weight and shape of it. But he posed with Kikoku with determination, brandishing it as best as he could in front of the struggling man.

"Old man," Luffy addressed the one standing nearby, who was patting his pockets. The demon lurched about, ghosts scurrying about with confused expression. A girl with pink pigtails wailed angrily off the side, stomping the floor with one heel. "I watched a ton of anime. I know how to use this thing. A lot of _Samurai Champloo_ knowledge go to these hands!"

"I don't know what that is, but I know you're doing it all wrong," the older man snapped at him. "And call me Smoker – I ain't all that old, you little shit. I died in combat, prime of my life!"

"Says you with your white hair – _c'mon_ , demon! Come get some!" Luffy shouted, swinging the sword with chaotic movements.

The demon's eyes flashed brilliantly before setting itself into a warning crouch, mottled teeth gleaming with an oily grin. Fingers wrapped tightly around Luffy's ankle, and he glanced down to see Law holding onto him. He kicked that hand away.

"Start trusting me!" Luffy snarled, before charging at the demon.

"Oh, that kid's going to die," Smoker muttered with a cringe, watching the long sword flash from side to side with clumsy action. Luffy leapt over some debris as the demon sprang to one side and slammed into him like an overgrown dog, pushing body through the hole in the wall and down into the stairway. With pure, stubborn determination, Luffy released the sword and wrapped his arms around the creature's thick neck as they slammed into the hard set of stairs. He was nearly knocked out of Sanji, both of them flickering briefly upon impact.

The demon snarled as Kikoku clattered noisily down the stairway, blade scraping noisily against the plastic edges of the stairs. Luffy hugged the creature tightly, legs kicking out and back to brace himself against any sturdy ground his feet could find. Both his and Sanji's forms flickered ever so briefly before resetting, Luffy growling noisily as he pressed his head against the creature's jawline, to prevent it from twisting and biting at him. Cold, wet hands grasped his arms as the demon pulled back, jerking him off his feet. The sensation of ice against skin caused Luffy to shout with surprise, but his feet braced against the creature's stomach, and he flung all his strength and weight into a kick that knocked the demon's breath from it. The moment he felt it start to jerk back, he loosened one arm and landed a hard punch against the creature's jaw, still clinging with one arm around its neck.

He punched several times in succession, bracing his feet against the creature's stomach. Once he felt it start to lose its balance, he jerked his weight outward, swinging it off center. Luffy forced it down the stairs, clambering over the creature like a mouse before jumping with both feet against the back of its head to help it fall.

He caught himself neatly onto the stairs as the demon rolled down the set of stairs, ending up on the basement level with a clatter of noise. He grinned victoriously, then angrily pulled at the hem of his shirt – he ripped that off and tossed it to the side, moving his shoulders and arms freely, the messenger bag dropped to the stair at his feet. He found Kikoku, the blade catching against stairs, railing and wall before he steadied himself with it.

Examining the long blade with bewilderment, he hollered up so Law could hear him. "You overcompensating for something with such a long sword, man? How suspect! Longer isn't always better, Ace always said."

" _Shut up_!" Law shouted back crankily, his voice briefly intermingling with another's before it turned into his own. "Get back here!"

"I mean, I'm sure Ace was – _is_ – straight," Luffy assured himself, watching the demon as it struggled to right itself within the confined space. Legs kicked out, hands flailing before it managed to do so with an enraged snarl. He could only see red globs in the darkness, Luffy pausing in mid-descent. "But he always talked so much shit - !"

"Kid, you talk too much," Smoker commented from the hole in the wall before hefting himself down onto the stairs. "Make some room. I'll help ya out."

" _No, I got this_ \- !" Luffy protested before Smoker disappeared into him, Sanji's shoulders shaking briefly before his facial expression changed to reflect the older man's smug one. His fingers tightened around Kikoku as he descended the stairway.

The demon snarled noisily before lunging up at him. A split second later, Smoker kicked out to catch the demon's face with one heel before whipping around in a roundhouse that knocked the demon up against the wall with a loud rattle of sound. He caught himself nimbly with one foot atop of the rail and the other foot braced against the wall as the demon slumped briefly onto the stairway, its weight carrying it back down the steps with a sense of disorientation. Black tipped fingers scraped against the stairs noisily as Smoker whistled with appreciation, looking down at himself.

"This body is nimble despite its wimpy appearance," he muttered thoughtfully before releasing the sword with one hand and making a face. "Weak fists, though. Suspiciously stretchy legs – are we a ballerina?"

"Give me the knife!" Law barked from the hole in the wall, expressions shifting on his face as he unsteadily pushed himself to his feet. His limbs jerked about, as if trying to shake the invader from his body. His voice shifted, lowering and trembling with each change. "Give me – _stop fighting_ – give me that – _get out_ – fucking knife!"

Hand over his eyes, as if shielding them from the sun, Sanji gave Law an expression that was entirely Luffy's. "Man, you are the definition of a crazy man…"

But he picked the bag and tossed it up to him. "We're working together here, okay? No funny stuff, or I'll kick your ass, too."

The demon lunged up at him, barreling into his body and carrying him up the stairway as Law shakily opened the bag to retrieve the cleaver. His hands shook dangerously, knife nearly dropping out of his reach before he could catch it. Sanji was slammed into the wall, Kikoku dropping from his hand as he braced himself against the demon with a stubborn grunt.

" _Filthy animal_!" he snarled, kicking to gain some space as the demon grabbed him by the top of the head and slammed his head back against the wall. Two heads lagged behind his before he could collect himself with a stubborn expression, facial expression twitching. He managed to stretch a foot underneath the creature, kicking upward and catching the demon just below the ribcage. Once he had space, he rammed his fist into the demon's face, slugging him multiple times before leaping out of the demon's grasp.

Sanji hopped away from the demon, nimbly using its bowed head as a springboard to return to Law's side. He jerked the older man to his feet, forcing Law to drop his bag. "Get yourself together, old man," he snapped as Law snarled at him, cleaver clutched dangerously close to his face. "Decide on what you're going to do."

"I _know_ what I'm going to do," Law heaved, his facial expression twisting and twitching before taking on Gin's maddened one.

It took Sanji a moment to determine which instinct he wanted to trust before leaping away from the man – moments before the cleaver could cut him. The metal flashed menacingly as it nearly connected with his throat, and Sanji pushed himself into a backward slide along the tiled floor, looking at Law with grim understanding.

The older man – _Gin_ – turned to face him as the demon slowly crawled out from the stairway, panting noisily. Gone was Law's confident stance, his scowling expression. Over that was every characteristic of Gin's face over his, jaw moving with unfamiliar clenching and tension.

"To think, I _almost_ trusted you," Sanji commented lightly, shaking his head as Gin's fingers tightened around the handle of the cleaver.

"I admit, I'm a little slow at capturing trust," Gin confessed with a shrug. "Must be the face."

The demon lunged over Gin and slammed into Sanji before Sanji could do a thing. Both of them passed through the window without breaking it – _going ghost!_ – and hit the lawn outside in a tumble of limbs. The creature was the first to right itself, snarling and attacking with teeth exposed and fingers grasping – Sanji kicked and twisted, landing a foot each time to parry away its attacking hands and mouth. He whirled legs over head and was on his feet in moments, fast enough to put distance between them. The demon lunged at him once more, flimsy bubbles and smoke drifting after it with its movements.

Sanji avoided the danger easily, but his eyes kept darting back towards the library.

 _Law_ \- ! he thought desperately, his own voice audible outside of the concentrative efforts of both Smoker and Luffy as they commanded his body. It was seeing the activity from some other position – _third person?_ – and Sanji was helpless against it. But he had to trust the layers to keep him from being felled, trusting both Luffy and Smoker's fighting instincts to take over where he couldn't.

Gunfire rang out noisily, startling Sanji. But the demon jerked back spastically, releasing a furious roar of tonal noise as its skin reacted with open, smoking wounds.

"You bastard!" Penguin shouted furiously, striding forward with gun held with confidence in both hands.

"You killed Law!" Shachi shouted theatrically from the van, fist in the air. He snickered ( _how could he_ laugh _and quote a cartoon at a time like this? Sanji thought_ ) and Jean Bart was removing himself from the van as well, loading a gun with bullets that gleamed silver underneath the street lights. Penguin fired again, the demon screaming noisily, smoke exploding around it.

"Silver bullets?" Sanji heard himself ask skeptically, fists clenched as he readied himself to react if the demon attacked.

"Specially made," Jean Bart assured him as Penguin emptied his clip into the demon. The creature jerked and twirled about like a balloon released of pressure, shrieking in pain. "Where is Law?"

"Gin took him over. Removed everybody."

Jean Bart frowned grimly, lifting his gun with one hand and taking over while Penguin hastily reloaded. "That's not good. Why are you half naked? Pretty sure you went in there fully clothed…"

"If you had _guns_ ," Sanji stated with disbelief, ignoring his question, "why didn't you use them earlier?"

"Pellets against steel," Jean Bart answered as Penguin began to unload his weapon onto the demon. He reloaded calmly with a new clip. "It's not enough, but it's enough to distract."

" _Yeah_ , but - !"

"Who are you exactly?" Penguin asked him as Jean Bart took over. "And why are you half naked? What is with you guys and wanting to fight practically naked all the time?"

" _Freedom_ , guy! I have better movement this way. It's too bad I'm not wearing shorts, and then I'd probably be much faster…"

The demon began to pull shadows from the areas around it, heaving noisily with gurgling breath. The pair of man watched it grimly, Shachi hastily tossing them new clips from the van. Sanji caught sight of Gin walking away from the library, heading into another direction. He made to give chase when the demon pounced in front of him, blocking Sanji's view of the other man.

Penguin used that moment to dart around the demon, firing at the man's back as Sanji looked at him with horror. Easily, Gin evaded the action, turning and using the cleaver to cut bullet in half. Penguin's face shifted with awed action, gun lowered slightly as his mouth fell open. Gin steadied himself, one foot back before closing the distance between them in seconds, the cleaver's blade flashing for brilliance as the man was frozen in shock.

Sanji was already in movement, foot slamming into the side of Gin's head and knocking him backward. The cleaver's blade cut through Penguin's bang with harmless action before the man jerked back in belated action. Gin righted himself, arm flung out and catching Sanji across the chest, slamming him down into the grass. Jean Bart fired round after round, Gin jerking in motion to avoid behind hit. Sanji used his feet to kick one of Gin's legs back; then, once the man was off balance, caught him in the hip. He made the bicycle kick look easy as he rolled onto his back, heels landing hip – stomach – chest - chin - forehead before twisting on his shoulders to grab the man's ankle and yank him off his feet.

Gin landed with a hard exhale, but the cleaver whipped through the air – Sanji jerked wildly to the side, using a fist against the back of Gin's hand to redirect the cleaver away before launching his other fist into the man's face. Gin kicked at him, Sanji avoiding neatly before slamming elbow into the older man's face. He whirled back to his feet, launching punch after punch as Gin was caught in the flurry. For a moment, Gin and Law separated before Gin ensnared Sanji's fist with his teeth and yanked his head backward.

" _OW_!" Sanji shouted with surprise, caught within the force and stumbling forward. Gin landed hard punches of his own before Sanji could land a foot to his chest, forcing them apart. Now that they had distance, both of them glared at each other, panting for breath.

The demon continued to grow stronger, Jean Bart looking slightly worried as Shachi took cover behind him with an anxious look. He held a reusable grocery bag in hand, which held boxes of bullets with stickers and permanent markers declaring the boxes as "HAZARDOUS".

"Go find Kikoku," Jean Bart ordered of the redhead, Shachi nodding before shooting off towards the library, leaving the bag behind. Seeing Sanji and Gin stare at each other with fearsomely determined expressions, Jean Bart reloaded his gun, Penguin crawling to his side with part of his bang missing. "We'll keep that thing occupied. Let them handle each other."

"How are we going to remove the hostile from him?" Penguin asked shakily, retrieving a box before reloading a clip.

"If you have the shot, take it. It'll be enough to rattle that guy away from Law."

Gin turned his head to determine the demon's strength, Sanji looking in the same direction. The creature's wounds were gone, and it looked light on its feet as its red, beady eyes turned in their direction. It released a hiss, smoke emitting from it as the gathered shadows around it began to bulk up its body.

Gin looked back at Sanji. "No matter what you do to it," he said low, "it'll continue to survive. It's too strong. Fighting it is pointless."

"Is this a warning?" Sanji asked him idly, examining his shoulder for wounds before winding it up. "Are you telling me how to kill it, or you trying to prompt me entry into your cult? I can fight it all day! I feel great!"

"We had this conversation," Gin warned him. "And you have my answers."

"Maybe I wasn't listening," Sanji said with a worried frown. Gin frowned back at him, Law's features unidentifiable as his own – but Sanji's was a mixture of Luffy and Smoker. "So you should tell me again."

The demon roared noisily, grass fluttering underfoot and tree branches shaking. Pigeons, roosting for the night, took startled flight. There were sirens in the distance, steadily growing closer to the area because of the gunshots. A man screamed in horror, but his voice was tinny and far away – a ghost startled by the event.

"Let go of him, Gin," Sanji then ordered. "He doesn't wanna work with you. He doesn't trust me to make the best decisions for all of us. Control freak."

"It's too bad for him," Gin answered as the demon lunged in their direction. Gin stepped calmly to the side, watching Sanji while Sanji looked grimly at the creature that intended on charging him. Another glance at the man assured Sanji that Gin was not intending on interfering. He bunched his fists and set himself as Jean Bart and Penguin fired repeatedly at the charging demon.

Its skin and fur exploded upon multiple impact, smoke and filmy bubbles blasting away from it. It stumbled ever so slightly, but opened its mouth wide, intending on a bite. Sanji launched up and flung a foot out at its face, twisting just in time to avoid being grabbed in mid-air – he dropped an elbow atop of the demon's head, snatched a handful of fur and flung himself over the demon's back as it stumbled forward onto the grass. Nimbly, he rolled off the demon's back and landed in a clumsy crouch as the demon rolled feet over head.

It didn't take long to recover – once again in Sanji's face, Sanji's hands pushing up from below to catch its chin and redirect those mottled teeth away from him. But the demon's hands grabbed him by the middle, ripping him away with its longer reach. He was slammed down into the grass, repeatedly until the demon tossed him like a toy in the distance. The demon turned to face the two men that watched it warily, reloading their weapons while Gin watched without expression nearby.

"Law," Penguin called out slowly, watching the demon move their way. "Law, do something, asshole."

Gin's eye twitched, but his shoulders relaxed, cleaver held at his side.

" _Law_ …!"

Gunshots fired off as the demon charged at them, not slowing, even as bullets impacted its heavy body. Gin's mouth stretched with a smile as Penguin and Jean Bart began to back away, firing and reloading as fast as they could. The demon's powerful back legs took its weight to allow it to jump, hands outstretched towards the pair. Jean Bart shoved Penguin away so he could take the impact, gun signaling an empty clip. Gin's smile stretched and held, waiting for impact.

A Smart Fortwo Electric Drive car slammed off the demon's body, causing Gin's expression to shift with a startled look and the demon a pained whine as creature and electric car rolled over the grass with heavy noises. Gin whirled around to see Sanji breathing heavily, having lifted and tossed the tiny car like a toy; his expression was pure Luffy, the boy reaching for a hat that wasn't there.

"I forgot," Sanji panted, starting to run towards the demon as it shook off the impact, "I'm practically Superman, now. I'm going to super-pound your ass, demon!"

"Well, now that's a feat I _kinda_ want to see, and _kinda_ don't," he heard Penguin mutter, Sanji pausing in mid-stride to think about what he said. He reddened, but used his mortification with his wording to propel him forward.

" _Not what I meant_!" he yelled, lowering a shoulder to ram the demon away, causing it to fly into the nearby parking lot. " _NOT_ WHAT I MEANT!"

" _IDIOT_!"

Sanji made to charge after the demon, but instead grabbed the smartcar by its back bumper. Gin looked at him with surprise as Sanji then flung the electric car at him. Once Jean Bart saw Gin fly out of Law's body with a whoosh of sound, he darted forward to cover his friend as Law hit the ground. He couldn't see the ghost now, but Law looked at him with a dazed expression – more confused than injured. Once he was able to get his bearings, he pushed sluggishly to his feet, Jean Bart helping him with a pat to the back.

Sanji pointed at Law before returning his attention to the demon as it slowly picked itself up from the parking lot. " _I_ did that. _I_ saved your life. You owe me."

Catching his breath, Law looked back to see that Gin was gone. He patted himself weakly, then refocused on the shirtless blonde ahead of him, a look of distaste on his tired expression. Shachi was running out from the library, holding his sword. The sound of sirens was growing closer, and Law saw the flicker of red and blue lights on the surrounding building walls.

"Get the van," he ordered of Jean Bart, feeling like he'd just run a marathon. "Get the van, park over there. Give them what they what, but act the part. Meet back at the bar."

"What are you going to do?" Jean Bart asked him skeptically, watching as Sanji charged after the demon ( _yelling a battle cry with Luffy's voice_ ).

Law touched the tattoo on his neck with dirty fingertips ( _DEATH_ ) before retrieving a locket from his fifth pocket. He showed Jean Bart before snatching a sheathed Kikoku from Shachi's hands, the redhead out of breath and on his knees before he could say anything. Jean Bart yanked on Shachi's arm to force him to his feet, giving Law a look of chagrin before Law could leave.

Hearing the trio abide by his order, Law hurried towards the battle in the parking lot. It was impressive seeing that skinny, unremarkable form hold up impressive feats and launch attacks only seen in cartoons, but Sanji was basically a superhuman when layered. Once settled, he clenched the locket within his fingers, struggling to catch his breath.

"Luffy," he commanded, catching the blonde's attention immediately as he looked away from the demon ( _who was trying to pull itself together, using the shadows around it_ ), "get out of the way."

"What's that?" Sanji asked curiously, venturing towards him. He wiped his hands on his jeans, then settled them on his hips with boyish action. It made Law wince at the sight of his bare upper torso, which was flecked with dirt, grass and light injury – but nothing serious. He looked once more at locket, eyebrows lifted with interest.

"Just do as I say," Law ordered him. "Cora. I need you."

"That big clown guy?" Sanji asked with alarm, as black smoke exploded away from the locket, enveloping Law's hand and arm like a snake. He jerked back as Law looked at him with a wince – _apology?_ – before being completely covered by black smoke. Once it blew away, Sanji lifted his chin ever so slightly to see another man standing in Law's spot – he wore Law's clothes but clearly stood as a completely different person. Unlike the layer Sanji was used to, where the ghosts were invisible behind a living person's features, this one was clearly the clown without makeup.

The demon hissed as its head whipped from side to side, clearly searching before giving it. It sank into the shadows and disappeared without indication of its direction. Corazon looked at Sanji with disdain before turning and walking briskly away from the parking lot lights, heading for the sidewalk. Sanji followed with a clear look of confusion on his face. Once they were out of sight of the approaching patrol cars, Corazon paused in mid-step – a hit from his palm knocked both Luffy and Smoker out of Sanji, all three of them falling to the sidewalk in various directions.

" _Ow_ ," Sanji croaked, utterly disoriented and wondering where his clothes were.

Luffy stared up at the city scape, eyes huge against his face while he held the knuckles of one hand, rubbing absently. Smoker crossed his arms over his chest, scowling while his teeth snapped together; clearly craving something. Corazon propped the sword at his shoulder, looking down at them. All around them was a visible flutter of smoke that constantly rotated and shifted around their supine bodies like rushing water.

At the sound of approaching steps, the three on the ground looked over to see a couple of police officers with flashlights and drawn guns looking around them with expressions of concentration. Without realizing it, Sanji held his breath, unable to think of any excuse to give when he was found. But the cops looked beyond and over them – as if the pair were wearing some sort of invisible cloaks. Looking to Corazon then back at them, Sanji sat up stiffly, hugging his torso as the pair then darted back to where they came from. Luffy sat up with a complaint while Smoker checked his uniform pockets for anything to put between his teeth.

"Can I please be excused?" he asked impatiently.

Corazon nodded at him, Smoker fading away without saying anything at all. Luffy reached out and grabbed Sanji, but his fingers only closed around the man's arm without any other action. He crammed himself up against Sanji, Sanji pushing him away with alarm. Once he realized he wasn't realigning with Sanji, Luffy looked at Corazon with immense confusion.

"Get up. Both of you," Corazon commanded of them, patting his jeans pockets until he found a silver case. He tugged out a cigarette and lit it with a match – Sanji stared incredulously at him, absolutely positive Law didn't smoke. And yet, the cigarette case and the cigarettes themselves were obvious products of the clown's time. The exhaled smoke was fragrant and thick – familiar – when Corazon frowned down at the pair of them. "My gleam is doing all the work. You're safe for now."

"What happened to the demon?" Luffy asked sullenly, reaching up to adjust his hat and fiddle with his clothes. "Is that it?"

"For now. We got a good gauge on their strength and abilities," Corazon said tightly. He looked to Sanji. " _And_? Is Gin or isn't Gin on our side?"

Sanji shook his head ever so slightly, clumsily crossing his arms over his naked chest and shivering. "I don't even know. The moment I thought he was on our side, he…clearly made way for the other thing…"

"He has a gleam," Corazon reported. "I was able to see it. He can camouflage himself to his surroundings– it's very interesting that he can do that. Hide from prying eyes. Like one of those little green lizards…"

"I mean, he's a _ghost_ ," Luffy pointed out impatiently. " _Ghosts_ can be invisible."

"If you're not looking in the right spot, you can absolutely miss him," Sanji murmured thoughtfully. "But he can be seen."

"Let's go home, we'll talk in depth there," Corazon then ordered, sword on his shoulder and cigarette at his lips. He walked ahead while the pair ambled after him with uncertain expressions. Luffy gave Sanji his coat, but Sanji refused it because he was still a living being and Luffy's coat was something only a ghost could wear.


	11. Chapter 11

**11: Oh, If the Right One Came, Along**

* * *

The early morning sun was rising between city buildings when the faint buzz of a cellphone went off. Both men were snoring noisily in separate rooms, the apartment quiet and unmoving. Luffy's lockbox rattled ever so slightly, jumping here and there against the living room floor; the battered metal box was wrapped messily in duck tape. It made a soft noise against floor and various furniture pieces when it jumped hard enough. The refrigerator hummed softly from the kitchen, the lights left on and allowing a soft glow over the messy countertops. The smell of coffee, with the machine bubbling ever so often, wafted in the air that was glittery with shimmering dust motes.

Law managed to open his eyes first, growing aware that it was his cellphone doing all the buzzing. He lifted his head from one of the couch's throw pillows, snatching the device from the nearby coffee table and eyeing it with one bleary eye. Once he realized it was Jean Bart, he answered briskly – but he sounded as if he'd had a terrible cold.

"All in the clear," Jean Bart reported. "Good to hear you're fine."

"Tired," Law muttered in response, tuning himself to the apartment's soft stillness. He could hear Sanji snoring loudly from his room, and the smell of coffee arose some interest in him. He pushed himself stiffly into a seated position, kicking away the throw blanket that had been draped over him. All his joints felt stiff, and his mind foggy. All he wanted to do was sleep, but the events that had occurred needed to be picked apart to be understood. He had a lingering metallic taste in his mouth that felt foreign, and an odd sense of disorientation – like a stranger had just possessed his mind.

He quietly told himself to stop being so sarcastic with himself when he was tired.

"Are we in the clear?"

"I have…" Law trailed off, scrunching his brow with concentration, "no idea where everyone is. But resting isn't helping us that much."

"The bar is quiet – we're all accounted for here. I will notify you if one of the lads should break off and visit. I'd suggest you open a box and have a good lookout dog posted in the hall there."

Law nodded then answered verbally when he realized the bigger man couldn't see him. Wiping his eyes, he struggled to push through the tired fog in his brain, to conjure the memories he could recall in the chaos of that night. He had a sinking feeling that it didn't go too well, but he tried to assure himself that they were all accounted for and none of them had any terrible injuries. When Jean Bart hung up, Law sluggishly pushed himself to his feet, feeling like his very bones were exhausted.

 _This must be that guy's affects_ , he thought, stumbling to the bathroom then to kitchen and searching for a coffee mug. He had a slight hangover, he realized with disgust. He vaguely remembered Sanji cleaning up last night, but Law had no memory of what invited such cursing and violent wielding of a trash can and broom. When Law couldn't find a mug, he took the pot off the burner. He searched for the sugar and a big enough spoon to stir it with. When that proved a monumental task, he sipped at the carafe lid with as much gentility as he could, and still burned his lips and tongue.

Sanji snatched it out of his hand, giving him a disgusted look as Law hissed. "For shit's sake, are you senile? Go sit down before you hurt yourself."

Law scowled at him, but limped to the kitchen table. It took a lot of effort to lower himself into a chair, hissing and wincing the entire time. Sanji stared at him with bleary eye incredulity before turning and retrieving a cup, the sugar and a spoon. He poured the coffee, fixed it to Law's preference, and stirred it briskly while Law felt awkward with the service. But Sanji placed the readied mug in front of the older man and patted his clothes for his glasses. He was frustrated that he had yet to find them, so he squinted to see.

"Breakfast?" he then asked while Law sipped at his coffee, wincing once again. "What the hell did that guy do to you? I've never seen you so beat up."

"I don't know. Everything hurts and I'm _tired_ ," Law snapped, but not with anger. "I'm not hungry, I just want caffeine. I have a lot to think about."

"I'll make a light breakfast, and you'll eat it so you don't burn a hole in your gut," Sanji amended, setting the pot aside and rifling through his cupboards and fridge. Law frowned after him, slightly amazed that the younger man had taken a shower last night and had made himself more presentable this morning than Law was in the aftermath of last night's mess. Sanji had clearly taken the time to pull on clean cargo shorts and an oversized hoodie, but his feet were crammed into Vans, the heel backs flattened. His newly cut hair had been moistened for a quick brushing, but it still managed to escape confinement with a slightly shaggy appearance. After closing the cabinets he'd opened, Sanji cringed so Law politely looked in the other direction to give the younger man some pride.

Sanji ended up sheepishly ordering breakfast in through an app, instead. He poured himself some coffee instead and sat across from Law while the old man scowled down at the table. Fixing his shoes to wear correctly, Sanji watched him in silence, concerned over the frustration and somewhat helpless attitude the other man had on display. Law noticed the look and gruffly adjusted his position, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I don't have much memory of…everything after Luffy…jumped me," Sanji said lightly, frustrated with the spotty distance of his own mind, "but a lot happened. So…I'm sure it's not something that we can discuss between us to understand what happened, unless you know more."

"I do remember a few things here and there, during the event," Law muttered, fiddling with his messy hair and attempting to flatten it. "What sticks most is that Gin was more of an enemy than an ally."

"Did he say something?"

"No, he…it seems he assisted mostly with the demon's efforts, instead of assisting us into stopping him."

Sanji worked his lower jaw from side to side before offering tentatively, "I think…if he didn't actively put his hands on us to insert us into that thing's mouth…we must look at it from a different point of view."

"What's a 'different point of view'?" Law asked with exasperation.

"If Gin truly was used, then of course he wouldn't be outright aggressive," Sanji said carefully, watching his moving expressions. "He could still be intimidated, but…"

"If he wants us to defeat the thing, then he needs to help take it into his hands! Not passive aggressively stand off to the side and just let shit happen. You keep defending this man. I do remember bits and pieces of him trying to hurt you."

"I feel that he's not actively trying to do so," Sanji interrupted his complaints. "I recognize his behavior, Law. He wants to help, but he's influenced, dominated by a bigger power than him. He has to play his cards right if he wants to…"

He trailed off awkwardly as he realized he wasn't sure what Gin's motives for survival was if the man were already dead. His mind was sluggish and tired, and he wasn't quite put together after some restless sleep. Considering the other man's appearance, it was obvious Law was in the same state. His blue-black hair was in various directions, he had pillow marks on his face, and because of their state of action last night, he was still in some fight dirty clothes, so he looked pretty trashed. The buttons of his shirt were crooked, and still Sanji couldn't help but look at him affectionately.

But Sanji worried his hands as he continued to consider Law's mood in response to his argument. All he saw was a frustrated man who stifled his instinctive words with a hand against his mouth.

 _At least he's trying_ , he thought hopefully. Sanji then wondered if the man even remembered Smoker speaking for him last night. It seemed it would hurt if Law deliberately ignored that it happened, or…

Overthinking. Sanji was _overthinking_ these things, automatically reverting to the negative aspects before considering the positive signs. He had to work on that bad habit if he wanted Law to work with him. It was obvious both of them wanted this.

They were _trying_.

"I know how it feels, Law. I've been in his position."

"He tried to slit our throats - !" Law said with exasperation.

"But did he? DID he?"

"He HAD a _CLEAVER_ to our _THROATS_!"

" _But did he kill us_? Or did he put on a very convincing show? For a man of his reputation, who supposedly killed scores of people, why were the both of us _that_ hard to kill?"

Law glared off to the window while Sanji waited for an answer. When none came, he said, "What do you remember of the demon's actions when it came to Gin? Did it address him in any way? Reveal any secrets that we should know about? Treat him like a pet or a subject?"

As he wiped and rubbed at his eyes, Law looked back at his spotty memories - sifting through chaotic images and blurred sounds that felt like someone else's dream. The demon was targeting him – he was confident of that aspect, as it was something he'd suspected. The details of that notion was lost in the blur of dreamlike quality. But not much else stood out - the frustration made his hands clench, shifting against the table with agitated movements. But Sanji made him think about that, because maybe he was right. The way Gin addressed them in the bar made Law consider these things.

Something in those blurred images seem to unfurl at that moment, so Law stilled to concentrate on it. In the confusing moments after having Gin removed, Law had seen the man moving sluggishly from the scene. He had seemed to look back at them as his lanky form began to blend into the area, but Jean Bart was in Law's view, helping him back to his feet. Law concentrated on that last moment, focused on that man's expression- trying to determine the emotion on display. He couldn't quite understand it, unable to place the flick of eyebrow, the clench of the jaw.

"Will the layers know?"

Sanji's voice startled Law out of his effort. He nodded, wearing a terse expression. "They could."

"Then we should ask Luffy."

"That kid wouldn't have noticed the sky is blue if he -!"

"Smoker."

"Smoker moved on."

Sanji frowned at him with confusion, quite certain Smoker had been very real on the sidewalk with them.

"That's the impression Cora gave me," Law then explained. "He was...he's asked you himself about Gin, and you gave an answer that left him unsatisfied. But..."

Sanji waited for Law to explain the puzzled expression on his face, fiddling with his stirring spoon.

"He also left me the impression that Gin's actions were as you said. His gleam allows him to disappear into his surroundings - all gleams are indicative of a ghost's previous spirits, a collective strength of their lingering will ..."

Sanji thought of his mother's gleam - a softly glowing candlelight against an unforgiving darkness. Luffy's stretchy maroon and black glow that seemed to stretch with strength. Eustess's glow of a stormy sea.

"…but to disappear the way he does means he's sneaky. He's hiding something."

"Or a man trying to hide from something that scares him," Sanji corrected him. Law frowned at him, fingertips drumming on the table top. Sanji inhaled and exhaled with his own impatience before saying, "I might be wrong. You could be right. But...I'm saying I recognize his place and we should...just watch. He could be giving us the clue we need. He fears the thing - you can see it."

"Robin doesn't trust him."

"What injured animal hasn't snapped back when an unfamiliar hand is in its face? Look, Law," Sanji said quickly, reaching out to grip one rough hand before the older man could say anything, "let me deal with him. You focus on the other thing. If it comes down to it...I can do what needs to be done."

"He knows you're soft, and can manipulate you, that's why I'm trying to explain - "

Sanji laid his other hand atop of his own, using his facial expression to speak because the words he wanted to use were going to be the wrong ones.

After some tense moments, eyes locked on the pale, dirty hands atop of his own, Law then looked at Sanji. He could feel his normal, usual tension rising up within him - to reject the gesture out of his own admonishment, overwhelmed by his own discomfort. But he swallowed tightly, palms warm with his own rising temperature.

 _Stop running_ , he scolded himself. _No excuses here - we talked about this._

_...wait. We did?_

Law was reminded of seeing a Smartcar being thrown across the lawn to knock a seething demon into the ground. He found the strength to move, one of his hands freeing to grasp Sanji's. Sanji watched him with blooming hope that made his stubborn expression soften, like an eager kid. It made Law feel better to see that a simple gesture could be accepted that easily.

 _This is new_ , he thought. _This is that new thing he wanted me to have..._

You deserve this.

_I deserve this._

_Please please please don't be arguing with yourself,_ Sanji thought anxiously, watching the man's expression battle it out with thoughts Sanji couldn't hear. _Wait - I take that back...considering the situation,_ please _let it be an argument with yourself by yourself and not some stranger trying to convince you otherwise..._

Law swallowed tightly, his grip just as unforgiving as he gave Sanji's half a brief shake. "Don't prove me right. I...I...as long as you have that kid, then - ! Just...if you need...help -!"

"I feel like I'm sixteen, finally being trusted to drive the family car," Sanji said brightly, smiling at him. "Thanks, dad."

The doorbell rang, so Sanji attended to that while Law scowled at the table, anxiety strumming through him.

 _This is different_ , he told himself. He _is different - they have the same stubborn determination...but this is not the same situation...!_

 _Just breathe_ , he ordered himself, inhaling and exhaling with control while Sanji laid plastic bags on the table and pulled out some plates and silverware from the kitchen. The smell of food hit Law then, and he waited politely to be served.

 _Like one of those hardworking husbands_ , Sanji observed with a crooked eyebrow. _The ones that are out at a city job all day while wifey tends to the house and has affairs with the pool boys._

As he served Law a plate, he hesitated for a moment before pressing a loud smooch atop of grimy, grass and debris littered hair. He smelled old sweat, alcohol and something that wasn't Law at all – almost as if Gin's scent had been left all over him.

"Take a shower after, ape," he said, wiping his mouth. "I'll find some clothes for you. I have some in your size, but I don't want to hear you bitching about it. Unless you want to squeeze into something of mine."

"I'm sure what you have is fine."

"It's not the missionary crap you like."

 _Is this okay_? Law thought with light panic, feeling finicky with the brief moment of acceptance in the situation as Sanji served himself and sat. _Is this_ okay _? Give me a sign that this is okay...! This is what you wanted - is it really the right thing...?_

Sanji noticed Law frowning at his plate, and picked up his fork to fiddle with the rubbery eggs. "I'm not going to hand feed you, shit head. Your hands aren't broken."

 _Prickly_ , Law thought, picking up his fork. There was immense comfort in that. After all his indecisive thinking and back and forth anxiety, it felt good to be told what to do without the words being soft enough to argue with. He used the side of his fork to cut through pancakes he had yet to fix to his liking, and before he could think to reach for the bowl of powdered sugar, Sanji did it for him.

 _That's not the way I like it_ , Law remembered telling the waiter when the same incident had happened years ago. The incident had taken place in a gleaming white kitchen, where bacon still sizzled atop of the stove, and the percolator was bubbling with another round of coffee. There was a cigarette burning in an ashtray nearby. _I can do it myself_!

 _This is the only way you'll hear 'I love you' from me_ , the waiter had told him cheerfully, slicing up Law's pancakes and sprinkling a light dusting of powdered sugar over the golden brown disks.

 _Why not just say it_? Law heard himself mumble.

_Because you're so fucking shy, it'll kill you to accept and give any type of affection._

_Aren't I obvious?_ Law had thought, mind lost in the memory. He couldn't tell if that was his current thought or his own remembered voice. The kiss that followed at the top of his head was given with a wave of cigarette smoke and a pat before the waiter left him to go and serve himself.

"I can do this myself," he said with vague frustration. "What am I, a shitty kid?"

"If I don't do this for you, you'll sit and allow your food to go to waste while thinking about useless shit," Sanji retorted as he sat back down. "I take care of you because I like you."

 _Ghosts_ , Law thought heavily. _Repeating their lives with their deaths and vice versa_.

He lifted his eyes from his plate to the other man, who was looking at a rubbery strip of bacon with thinly displayed disgust before taking a small bite of it. Law could hear the waiter's voice in his head – " _Mine tastes a hundred times better than this, why am I allowing myself this heartburn?_ " – before Sanji muttered, "I know I can cook a better meal, why am I relying on others' microwaved shit?"

It really hit Law then that he'd heard the waiter's "annoying" voice for awhile.

He exhaled heavily, all of his insecurity and doubts released from any further brooding. The light weight that had been present in his chest felt absolutely missing. Every breath after felt fresh and clean, and _something_ pulled away from him that felt like a disguised weight he hadn't noticed.

Sanji made a face, waving a hand in front of his nose.

"You've got some chemicals going," he chided Law with a light laugh. "Go take a shower. I'll keep your food warm. Maybe even run down to the store – there is absolutely nothing here, but I know I can cook better than this processed crap – "

"I want to do this differently," Law said, then froze because he hadn't meant to say that aloud. Sanji stopped chewing to give him a puzzled look. In those few moments, Law's face began to bloom with embarrassed color, Sanji looking absolutely puzzled. But since he spoke first, Law figured he'd have to continue. Awkwardly, he said, "Be more…communicative."

Sanji moved to speak when Law interrupted with, "More obvious, more…open."

"Are we talking about clothes?" Sanji asked tentatively, fork aside. His eyes dropped briefly to Law's chest before rising quickly. "Because I think, for both of our sakes, this should be a slow effort."

"…No." _Clothes_? Law thought, puzzled. _A slow effort_ …? "No, ah…the…the method of which to express…myself with."

"You speak just fine, and your expressions are quite obvious – how much more obvious do you need to be?"

" _NO_. Not…times are different. I need to…change. I need to change myself, to adapt to…the difference."

"Ah, you're seeking to modernize yourself. That's a good start."

Law glowered at his food, because his face was still hot and because he couldn't quite prompt himself to delve into more personal details while stumbling. _Slow steps_ , he thought with resolve. _But strong ones_.

"Check your pockets," Sanji then said, a thought occurring to him suddenly. "Check all your pockets – maybe when that guy was occupying you, he left something behind."

Law followed along with the suggestion, and once he came into contact with something unusual, he pulled it out of his back pocket. It was a neatly folded square of a newspaper clipping, and he unfolded it over the table. Sanji pulled it away from him, setting it aside.

"There is time to eat and shower, first. This will still be here when you finish with that."

"You're such a _nag_!" But Law ate anyway, eyes stuck on the newspaper clipping while Sanji shrugged off the comment and resolutely stood by his word. Almost a half hour later, Law returned to the table. Admittedly, he felt a lot better after cleaning off and moping over the black turtleneck, soft jeans and underwear he could never imagine wearing ( _so much freedom in these small things – he was embarrassed for whomever thought these were appropriate for men_ ). He set his earrings aside – ears needed a good scrub – and picked up the newspaper clipping, sitting down to look it over.

Sanji stared at him with warm fondness, fist against chin. _This stupid asshole_ , he thought affectionately.

"Well? Does it hold the answer to everything we need to know?" he asked, sipping at his coffee.

"It's detail of the first massacre…on the train," Law mumbled, puzzled by its significance. "It only mentions that historical artifacts were present and violated during the slaughter. It also expresses that a local church in…"

He named off the town where Robin had taken Sanji, causing the blonde a puzzled look.

"…was dissatisfied with the destruction but will forgive the situation. No compensation was requested in return of the failed shipment." Law noticed Sanji plucking his phone out from his hoodie, flicking through it with a frown. "This article suggests that the shipment was expected to reach the church there, in that town, but it doesn't mention where it came from."

"Haven't you handled cases where churches had trouble containing certain spiritual deviations? Like that one place?"

"The fact that the church at that time simply thought the problem was over with is troubling. From there, Gin made his way to the forest – miles from that town. Massacring along the way to feed the thing that infested him."

"The timeline of his crimes adds up correctly with the date on that thing? Oh, look," Sanji then said, showing him his phone. "Robin took us to the place – that's where Luffy comes from – and where the church used to be is where the motel is now standing."

"Why she bothered taking you there is…concerning."

"How else was she supposed to get there?"

"How did she find Luffy?" Law then asked with bewilderment. "Does she possess some sort of ghost index?"

"You knew her the longest, ask her the right questions."

"Now that we have this information," Law muttered, patting his pockets for his phone and remembering that he'd left it in the living room; he gave up the search and picked up his coffee instead. His thoughts promptly shifted to another subject as he wondered what the church of that time intended on doing to contain the demon. Sanji watched him with some vague mirth, shaking his head ever so slightly.

 _You're so fucking_ old! He thought humorously. His chest hurt with the strength of his feelings, and he rubbed it absently, slightly embarrassed by the presence of his recognition.

"I'll text Shachi," he assured Law, switching to his messaging app, "and ask him to backtrack into Luffy's family to find out if they have any connection whatsoever to that church. Maybe he's related somehow, and is the only weapon Robin felt was useful against something that demonic."

"Ah. Yes, that's what I was going to request."

"But don't you see? He's not the suspect – he's the victim."

"I'm tired of arguing about the subject. It is what it is, and you're wrong. That's all I'm going to say about it."

"If I promise to clear his name," Sanji continued over the stubborn declaration, "maybe by allowing Gin to move on the demon will be weakened. It's using the guy. It has to be."

"It attached to the living Gin, and when he died, it roamed freely in that forest, feeding off all of those that chose the forest as their last moment of life." Law frowned, rubbing at his goatee. "But they're still attached. Because why is he still in _its_ vicinity? And why is it not attacking when it's obvious? In one spot, it could have chosen to take us all down in the bar, yesterday."

"It won't let Gin go?"

"Because he was useful."

"But as a ghost, what can he do for it?"

"I have to eliminate him to find out."

"Law," Sanji then spoke up with a confused expression, "in all the attacks so far, it chose to attack when we're layered. That's when we're able to see it."

"No, I…" Law trailed off suddenly, considering it. "In my apartment, I was layered with it. You pulled it out. And last night…I saw it without…"

"But it approached you to speak to it, so that's how you were able to see it!"

"…now that I know Gin's gleam, it's more than likely _he_ was present when that shit happened, and neither of us knew he was there."

"But there were ghosts present - that thing is already _dead_ ," Sanji said with understanding. "It's not even - ! It's a ghost itself!"

"There is no such thing as a demon _ghost_ , demons are an actual inhuman _living_ being…" Law trailed off with confusion in his features. He then looked to Sanji. "I have a plan…"

"…Do I have to get undressed for this?"

Law stared at him as Sanji snickered, finishing his coffee. "NO. _God_ , no. God – _why would you even_ -?"

Sanji sighed noisily to cut him off. "What's your plan?"

Law continued to stare at him, absolutely bewildered to his comment. He struggled to think, returning back to the concept of the demon being a ghost.

"First off, we have to find what that shipment was in the first place," he mumbled. "If it were being sent to the church for confinement, then let's just agree that it was unholy in the first place. Robin was trying to send us to the library to find some actual facts, but…"

"It was a diversion. All that chaos that occurred, to keep us from finding out the truth."

"But _who_ caused the diversion? Gin…or the…other ghost? It's human – perhaps it mutated its own gleam to appear as a damn demon."

"Can ghosts do that?"

Law picked up the newspaper clipping, studying the faces of the men captured in the photo. Then he examined the paper itself, running his fingertips along the torn edges. "This is a recent copy. This is copied from something."

 _You a cop_? Law recalled Gin asking Robin suspiciously.

"Sometimes," Sanji murmured, rising up from his chair and retrieving the earrings deposited on the table, "a victim will not name the suspect out of fear of retaliation. Perhaps we were being led, subtly, to a bigger picture. Gin was trying to name the suspect without it being obvious because _whoever_ it is is still holding so tightly onto him that he can't be obvious. Despite being dead, he still fears a retaliation because probably a bigger part of his life was attached to the feeling. Like the housewife – still hanging onto a love she believed was coming back to her."

Law once again returned his attention to the picture, only vaguely aware that Sanji was gently inserting and closing his earrings back to his ear. His skin prickled with the intimate task, but his mind was swamped with moving possibilities in that perhaps the demon wasn't a demon at all – it was actually a mutated gleam caused by another ghost. The more he thought about it, the more it was starting to make sense. Every individual on the photo became a suspect, and he searched for indication of a closer relationship to each person Gin was near. The puppy, a German Shephard, was with its tongue out, facing the same direction as Gin. Next to them was a bigger man – an older one with a big, broad chin and hideously thick sideburns that made Law touch his own with conscious examination.

While this man wasn't facing the pair, he was standing close. The more Law examined the photo, it seemed to make more sense that the individuals were more of a group. He tapped on it with a fingertip.

"I need to know their names," he murmured, mostly to himself.

The answer suddenly occurred to him as Sanji clipped in his last earring, and he flung his hand out with some excitement, startling the blond because he thought he'd hurt him with his action. "The Prohibition was in effect at that time! This shipment wasn't anything outstanding – they were _alcohol smugglers_! It makes sense that the church was just a cover – Gin expressed a certain thirst when he was in possession of you – that sneak!"

Sanji gave Law space as he hopped up from his chair, hand pressed to his chest. "I have a hangover – he left an impression on me. Fuck, you were right."

It suddenly occurred to Law that Robin had brought up the topic of other people using gleams as he did.

" _Have you noticed that other people can do what you can_?"

He closed his eyes with building frustration and irritation as Robin had given him this clue in the first place. She knew there was another person involved who could use gleams!

" _That dog of his was present during his killings. More than likely, it'll guide him to you to help his master. To contain the man, you'll have to contain the animal_."

 _Gin was the_ _dog_ in a metaphorical sense- Sanji was right. It filled Law with helpless, friendly defeat - like being one upped in an argument he was sure of winning with a friend. He would have to talk to Robin later, but he could hear her laughing in amusement.

Gin had given him all the clues and Law was so focused on his own determination ( _his own fears_ ) that it irritated him to be this wrong.

 _My last job_ , he vowed with absolution.

He drew up the pictures on his phone, finding the photo of the "demon dog." He began to see what he'd missed. The ghosts caught in the photo were positioned in such a way that they seemed as if they were fleeing but in actuality...the lightning effects were blurring out the fact that they were gleams, and those gleams were being pulled towards the dog. The headless body against the tree -

He yanked the newspaper clipping to compare what he suspected and inhaled sharply.

The bigger man and the headless body were the same. It all came together so suddenly that everything built and crested, and all he could do was laugh. Without thinking, he leaned over and pressed a hard kiss against Sanji's forehead.

Sanji stared at him silently, absolutely lost.

"Robin has thrived for such a long time," Law muttered, wearing a slightly unhinged smile that made Sanji nervous, "that the only way to amuse herself and continue to flourish is to create riddles."

Sanji watched him charge over to the living room, seemingly renewed with excited energy. He was confused, but it appeared Law had figured out the puzzle.

"This isn't a demon, it's a _man_ , and I know how to draw him out and put that idiot to rest," Law said, snatching up his sword.

Sanji was impressed - his expression reflected this. he was unsure how Law came to his answers, but he believed in him. He was sure Law would explain them with the others present.

"Let's go."


	12. Chapter 12

**12: I've Got This Friend**

* * *

Sanji began to wonder if he were imagining things, pulling at the ties of his hoodie with vague repetition as he listened to Law explain his conclusions to the sleepy-eyed group at the bar. Penguin had his head pillowed with both arms atop of the counter while Shachi guzzled from tall cans of energy drinks, and Jean Bart sat atop of one stool with his usually meticulous uniform loosely buttoned. All of them looked exhausted, but Law paced with an energy that didn't seem to diminish as he spoke his theories aloud. Luffy was sitting at the counter with a scowl to his face as he braced his hands onto the counter and lightly swung his feet. He had admitted he was in a bad mood because he'd been jailed unfairly after the battle. His lockbox sat nearby, where Sanji had cut through the ducktape with a borrowed knife.

But he wondered if he were seeing things, because he was starting to notice that Law kept looking at him. Not passing glances, but _looking_.

 _Not that I'm complaining_ , Sanji thought, stilling the repetitive movement as he caught Law _looking_ at him. Eye contact, a full frontal face turn – not that quick glance from the corner of his eye, or sneaking look in one of the bar mirrors. He looked away, unsure how to take the sudden attention and feeling his face heat ever so slightly. _What changed his mind_ …?

"You got all of that…" Penguin spoke up, not lifting his head but patting the counter for the newspaper clipping between him and Shachi, "from _just_ this piece of paper?"

He rattled the paper once he came into contact with it, Shachi looking puzzled as he waited for Law to give the answer.

"From _just_ a picture…? You decided he was a booze smuggler and had _all_ this history based on a couple of words, when we couldn't find anything more than his exploits? Even the other team had as much information as we did, and he's a full blown murderer without motive, not…!"

"It makes sense, Penguin. He can't talk about it, and the timelines match with the information I was able to learn. Why wouldn't a church speak of the unnamed shipment if they weren't in partnership with smugglers they can't name? Also, the impression left behind suggested this – he deliberately left the sensation on me," Law insisted, pausing in mid-step. To Shachi, he said, "Why aren't you looking this up? Find that man's name, the big one with the sideburns."

"You're so _bossy_ when you're all _manic_ ," Shachi complained, but he did pull his battered laptop from the counter to his lap, opening it with a grunt. "Finding that sort of history is hard. Why can't we just go _back_ to the library, sneak in to the archives and find what Robin wanted you to find in the first place?"

"Or ask the asshole himself?" Penguin questioned, sitting up. He had pulled a black beanie over his meticulously kept hair, but Sanji could see where he'd lost a section of it from the fight last night. He wondered why the man kept hiding his face, so he envisioned terrible scarring or uncontrollable eyebrows. Maybe a missing eye from the war. "Why can't we just _ask_ him? If he's sneaking around, spying on us – just do a knock for 'no', two knocks for 'yes'."

"Because that's stupid and lazy," Law told him, Penguin's jaw tensing and face reddening. "And I'm right."

" _You're_ stupid!"

"All you guys do is _fight_ ," Luffy complained. "How do you get anything _done_?"

"Didn't you notice that the thing was a man?" Law asked him, pinning him with a stare. "In battle, you were all over him."

 _No wonder my skin feels all rashy_ , Sanji thought, looking down at himself. All he found were light scratches that were easily dismissed and some knuckle soreness, but overall, he wasn't as trashed as Law was.

"I felt a lot of fur," Luffy confessed, hands up to allow his fingers to pinch the air. " _A lot_. I felt it on my skin, I felt his little horns, and some spots felt rough, like weird lizard hide – it wasn't a dude, I'm one hundred percent sure it was a mutt. A demonic mutt! You said it was talking to you, but I couldn't hear any words! Unless you were doing Professor Xavier stuff, and having conversations in your mind…"

"Maybe you just weren't listening…"

"I was standing _right there_ behind you!"

"A living person such as yourself can layer the gleams of various ghosts over you, and they all take on a different, collective personality," Jean Bart spoke up over the boy, being that he couldn't hear him, "but can a ghost do that without a _living_ host? Piggy back atop of each other?"

"It's a possibility," Law murmured, rubbing at his goatee. "Gleams are a supernatural strength that I actively use – that _we_ actively use to escape aging, acquire superhuman powers and such…why can't this be a possibility?"

"Is Gin really dead?" Sanji asked tentatively, knowing that answer already. "Because you guys have lived decades without aging because of your soul stealing and that in itself is fucking _vampirism_ , you shitty vampires…"

 _Oh my god_ , Shachi thought to himself. _We really are vampires_!

"Every case is not the same, Sanji," Law told him patiently, and Sanji stared at him because even the man's _tone_ was different. The maintained eye contact had him nervous, a flutter in his stomach because he wasn't used to this unusual attention ( _his_ ex _may have looked at him this way, but that was different – same face, different attitude – different layers_ ). Sanji's eyes darted away because he didn't understand the sudden change, and didn't want to get any of his hopes up.

 _No more aha! moments_ , he thought desperately. _At this point, I don't think I could take it_ …

"The supernatural isn't textbook. We learn something new each and every time," Law continued. Now that he was _okay_ – now that he felt assured and confident – he couldn't stop _looking_ at Sanji. It was as if he were seeing him for the first time – the familiarity with him already left Law comfortable, left him feeling positive that everything was going to be _okay_.

He just had to change himself, adjust to the change because it wasn't helping either of them by maintaining his old values. If he were going to make this "his last job", then he did need to modernize himself…

 _Small, but wide steps_ , he affirmed to himself.

"You _trying_ to start a fight?" Penguin asked Sanji. "Calling me a fucking Dracula…?"

"Return to your hair cave and think about what you just said to me," Sanji retorted.

Before Penguin could attack, Shachi pressed the bottom of his foot against his friend's hip to keep him seated, saying aloud, "I did some research based on the church's location and present re-decorating, and, _yes_ , it was remodeled sometime after 1929 to become a bustling motel, and it was rumored to be haunted, and – "

"The most _haunted_ place in town!" Luffy chimed in happily. "Scared the bejesus of everyone that _ever_ went there!"

" – but there are internet rumors that the church _was_ a storage place for smugglers to hide their alcohol in because the priests there were bought by these guys, so, yeah, makes sense. But an image search of this photo doesn't come up successful, AND," Shachi added, flicking through various windows with rapid presses of one fingertip, Penguin and Luffy looking over his shoulder with puzzled expressions, "when I bring up Gin's old Wanted pictures, never once does it mention that he was doing his crimes with someone else present, BUT…!"

He paused on one window, opening up another energy drink that Jean Bart took away from him with a firm shake of his head. "…in the towns where he DID commit his crimes, The Man was often on the lookout for groups that were suspected of smuggling alcohol and were busting down illegal breweries where Gin _just happened to be_. The people he happened to kill were…unfortunate victims connected to the smuggling. Deals gone wrong, probably, retaliation and shit like that…the Prohibition was no joke at the time. Can you imagine…? I can't."

"We'd no doubt be just as involved," Jean Bart said firmly, picking up his own mug and taking a sip.

 _Shitty alcoholics!_ Sanji thought with disgust. _It's_ nine _in the morning_!

Shachi clapped his hands then cracked his knuckles. "If he is who you claim him to be, Law, then you need to ask him point blank who he was working for and who he's taking the fall for because all indications on the world wide web point directly at him for being the bad guy! I've done my job, here. Squeezed the last of the juice from this knob."

"What a glorious _dork_ he is," Luffy whispered with awe, Sanji struggling not to laugh.

"I still say you fucking _knock_ to find a real answer," Penguin grumbled, chin propped up by fist. "If he ain't going to say a name while living, he ain't gonna say a name while being fucked-up dead."

" _Language_ ," Shachi chided him sternly.

"I've beaten countless men to sleep for attempting to be my mom!"

Luffy laughed noisily. "You're so _unreasonable_!"

"Gin, you working for someone? One knock for yes, two for no," Sanji said with exasperation, watching Jean Bart reach out to patiently separate Penguin from Shachi while Law stared at the laptop with a puzzled expression.

"Make it go back," he instructed Shachi. "There's a picture – "

The single knock from the counter caused all of them to tense, unsure if they'd heard what they heard. Considering the position of the counter to an empty bar, none of them were sure where the sound had come from.

"Just show yourself!" Luffy called out with exasperation, scanning the area with big eyes, as if that would help him see the ghost.

"Knocking will not spell out the name of the dude that he's working for," Shachi whispered impatiently, Penguin frowning at him.

"Who did that? Stop fucking around," Penguin then snapped at the others, looking at Law suspiciously. Law gave him an exasperated look, signaling that he wasn't the one to do it. "Where's that kid? I bet it was _you_ , wasn't it, dork?"

"I can't even see to knock," Sanji hissed at him.

"… _What does that even mean_ \- ?"

"I answer ridiculousness _with_ ridiculousness!"

"It had to be _you_ , you and that stupid turtleneck – _why_ are you wearing that? Why even get a tattoo if you're just going to cover it up?"

"Why are you so _angry_ all the time?" Luffy asked Penguin with sympathy as Law looked down at his shirt with mystification.

"I bet his intestines are fucked up," Shachi answered for him, opening up another energy drink that Jean Bart took from him, pouring it down the sink. "Dude, _stop_!"

" _What does that have to do with_ \- ?"

"Gin," Sanji interrupted the chatter, signaling for the others to quiet down, "is all of this true?"

Everyone remained still and went silent – the subdued noise from the busy city outside of the bar continued on unfazed. Someone's cellphone buzzed, and a woman screamed nonsense from just outside of the door. After several long moments of no response, Sanji glanced at Law, seeing that his eyes were meticulously studying the stretch of counter, hand on his sword.

The single knock chimed out once more, but it was short and clipped, coming from a different direction than the first.

"But you can't name the one that's actually behind it…?"

Another knock from a different direction came shortly after that question, and the silence stretched on for some time. Law shook his head to indicate that he could not see the ghost.

"Can't you just come out and talk to us, like a fucking man?" Penguin asked with exasperation, watching his friend cautiously.

From the door came a couple of knocks before silence descended.

"That's enough of an answer," Sanji murmured thoughtfully. "We can work with that."

"What's _creepy_ about this situation is that _dude_ is hanging around us without any of us noticing that he's there!" Shachi exclaimed. "He's listening in and _if_ he _is_ working for someone else, he's no doubt going back and reporting on it! Haven't you guys noticed that you'll see or hear him first, _then_ that other guy comes around?"

"The van tire," Jean Bart murmured, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

"The reason why no moves were made upon us in public," Sanji said, eyebrows lifting, "is his boss is still attacking under the cover of stealth to remain nameless, _blameless_. That _thing_ is attacking every time it's in a secured area."

Law looked at him with realization, then nodded to agree.

"So…was Gin doing the killing? Or this guy, and Gin was taking the blame for it? _He's_ the one with blood on his hands," Jean Bart said, wearing an expression of confusion.

Sanji recalled that both Gin's and the demon's hands were black – the vision he remembered when Gin took him over recalled looking at his own bloodied hands, pill bottle in hand.

"He probably does have blood on his hands," he murmured. "Maybe he isn't as innocent as the situation is trying to play out…but he's conscientious enough to want to fix something now."

"Fat lotta good it's gonna do now!" Penguin snapped.

"There's nothing wrong with trying to fix something," Luffy said. "If it's broken, why _can't_ it be fixed? He's trying to fix something, and didn't Law say that this thing can do what _he_ can do?"

"They can't hear you," Sanji reminded the boy gently, causing Luffy to slap his forehead with exasperation. "But you have good words, kid. I'm glad that you and I can agree to this, because I've felt the same way."

"You think he can be saved?" Luffy asked him tentatively. "If he's participated, like…he's still killed people, but he can help remove the bigger threat."

"I don't know how to feel about it after learning this stuff…I think it's important that he at least spare us some time to explain. I don't understand why he's still so attached," Sanji murmured, rubbing his chin. "I don't know what he fears if he's already dead, but…maybe the guilt caught up to him, and this is the only way to remedy this."

"Maybe. I guess. I don't know, I think you should talk to him because all of us," Luffy waved a hand to gesture at himself and the others, "just want to get rid of him. Robin entrusted me to help, and so I'm going to, but details… _eh_ …I mean, I have nothing to lose. Maybe I can be reborn and come back as something else!"

"If Gin is gone," Jean Bart said, rising from his stool, "it's to be expected that the other thing will be back."

"A _dog_ ," Law murmured, half an ear on Luffy and Sanji's conversation, "that will retrieve or assist his master."

"Did he really have a puppy, or was this just a tall tale?" Penguin asked curiously.

"Maybe the other guy killed Gin's dog, and that's what he's _really_ upset about," Shachi answered.

"It's like none of you really _listen_ ," Sanji muttered incredulously.

A single knock reverberated throughout the bar, but none of them could pinpoint exactly where the sound was coming from. Some of them looked up, some looked behind them, some looked down at the floor. Frustrated with this, Law sheathed his sword.

"I think you should continue to track down the names of the other members of his crew. Sometimes, the supernatural won't respond or react unless they are directly addressed by their name," Law said.

"Like Valek from 'the Nun'?" Luffy asked, eyes huge against his face.

"Shouldn't you be mad at her?" Penguin asked Law impatiently. "She's playing you like an idiot."

"As a result of some of our interactions," Law said slowly, "my old brain is still in fine working order. Our long lives need extra stimulation, but… _true_ …I am a little perturbed at this almost deliberate misleading."

"She didn't mislead you," Sanji argued, "you just didn't ask the right questions. And how could we with what we had?"

Penguin shifted in his stool to point at him. "Enough from you, you're making me angry!"

"People just have to _breathe_ to make you angry," Shachi whispered to himself, shaking his head.

" _I heard that_!"

"Penguin, please find your happy place," Jean Bart said with a tired sigh, finishing his drink.

"My happiness burned when I was drafted!"

"If they were smugglers," Luffy said slowly, face scrunched with concentration, "of alcohol, then why aren't they drawn to _this_ place where there's a lot of it?"

Sanji and Law frowned at him, then looked at each other. Once the trio realized the pair had gone quiet, they were given curious looks.

"Ghosts are drawn to things they love, or can't roam outside of their death areas," Law murmured, rubbing at his goatee, "but those with a gleam can go wherever they want. That thing felt threatened by my intention and wants to do away with me before I can stop him. He also mentioned consuming a gleam that had known of me."

Shachi exhaled noisily, then lifted his eyebrows. "Penguin, call that team and find out if they'd lost one of their members! Demand that they tell you the truth!"

"I will beat them _senseless_ if they lie to me," Penguin vowed, grabbing Jean Bart's cellphone, then staring helplessly at the lock screen before setting that down and waving for the bar's cordless phone. "I can't stand liars…!"

Luffy laughed at him, hand to his stomach while Shachi gave Penguin a shake of his head.

"You're too intense, man," Shachi complained. "Tone it down!"

"I've beaten men for having less sense than me," Luffy mimicked Penguin in a gruffer tone and a waving fist, including the older man's likeness with jutted chin and scowling frown. Luffy then laughed noisily to himself as Penguin snarled at Shachi, "I've beaten men brain dumb for attempting to soothe my outrages with common sense!"

"Aw, _shaddup_ , and have a Moon Pie!" Shachi faced the ceiling, leaning against the counter. "Why do I want one so bad…? I haven't had one in ages…random…"

Jean Bart poured himself another glass.

 _Did_ he _have a gleam_? Sanji wondered, looking down at the scarred countertop. _Who was the man that had captured such devotion and loyalty from a man like Law?_

He lifted his eyes to look at Law, lost in his imagination until he realized Law was _looking_ at him again.

 _That man was me_ , Sanji thought with heavy realization.

"He has the same abilities as I do," Law then added grimly. "He figured it out. Perhaps Gin was telling the truth in that. That was one of Robin's earlier concerns. This man-demon is what he is because of what he can do. He'd collected gleams all this time in that forest to thrive as he did."

"And Gin is a ghost," he added as an afterthought. "This is…perhaps the other is piggybacking on him still in this state. The pair weren't seen together in that forest – the demon was in dog-shape, causing witness to _assume_ it was Gin's dog. Perhaps people have been seeing both in that shape all this time. If Gin is as much of a victim as Sanji claims – "

"He is," Sanji argued, but without weight to it because his mind had been scattered.

" – then perhaps he is helpless to fight the other's whims. I need his name! Shachi, can't you break into the library camera's feed to at least view the basement? Perhaps the person we were supposed to talk to is there."

"Ghosts are hard to capture on camera on purpose," Shachi reminded him. "Besides, I've been checking in throughout the day, and they've had the power off to begin repairs to the building since this morning."

"Sanji," Law spoke up, looking startled, "where are the ghosts that you see here? Perhaps you can ask one of them if they have seen them."

Sanji lifted his head and looked around them with a similar expression. In all of the chaos that had happened, he had no idea when the Polar Tang's invisible crowds had dissipated. A feeling of horror gripped him. "They're not here," he said, confused.

"There were ghosts here?" Luffy asked curiously. "Wait… _what_?"

"Are you thinking that they were removed?" Jean Bart asked, vaguely alarmed. "Shachi. Go check on the remaining boxes in the basement."

Shachi hurried off to do so while Penguin held a conversation on the phone at the end of the bar.

"I didn't see any ghosts here," Luffy scoffed. "Just us. I mean…y'know…me and Robin and Gin."

"We can't see all of them," Law said impatiently. "I can only see the ones that approach and speak to me. And those with gleams. If this criteria isn't met, I see nobody."

"My brain is broken because I don't understand," Luffy whispered, wearing a confused expression. "I'm a ghost, of course I can see everything and anything!"

Sanji struggled to think when he'd seen the patrons, and he could only remember seeing them before Gin's arrival. He could not remember anything else after that.

"Kill the dog, you kill the man," Law muttered with annoyance.

"But it feeds off those that are tortured, right?" Sanji murmured. "The stronger the upset, the powerful the gleam."

"Sometimes, those with gleams have lived a very healthy and happy life, but I do remember him mentioning that. That is what he prefers…he'd wanted to get to you to get to me because he knows my feelings," Law said with remorse.

"Bait," Jean Bart said firmly, gesturing at Sanji, who cringed at the thought. Luffy hit Sanji with the back of his hand.

"We can do it!" he said cheerfully. "I threw a car at the guy, and he had trouble trying to fight me back! We make a great team!"

"…Threw a car?" Sanji repeated skeptically.

"It was a tiny one, but we threw it!"

"…we can do that?" Sanji whispered, looking at his skinny arms with doubt.

Law moved to speak, then shut his mouth. He glanced around them suspiciously, hearing the sounds of the city carry on outside of the Polar Tang. There was a meter maid talking to the woman screaming nonsense on the street, and moving pedestrians that barely looked up. The upside-down chairs on the tables, the gleaming floors and laid back atmosphere of the bar gave him no strange lines or movements that he'd find suspicious.

 _How to see a ghost that could use his surroundings as camouflage_ , he thought with frustration.

"Robin," he then said aloud, attuned to the sound of her skirts.

Sure enough, she emerged from the other end of the bar – lightly flowing like water from thin air. Luffy startled so badly that he nearly flopped over the counter as Sanji whipped around to look at her with a light gasp.

"I heard everything," she assured Law, tipping her hat ever so slightly. "What do you need?"

"How'd you know she was there?" Luffy cried, waving at her. "I didn't see or hear her!"

"She's watching," Law stressed. "Now that you know what we know, care to contribute?"

"Are you angry at me?"

"Annoyed, yes, but…like I said earlier, it keeps me young."

Robin tittered behind one gloved hand, fluffing out her skirts. "After all these years, Trafalgar, you finally catch on. Yes, you're correct – as for seeing the one you seek, it's just as you say. Unfortunately, he knows as much as you do."

"Never did like cops."

Gin's voice floated to them from the far corner of the bar, but his shape was still hidden by his surroundings.

"Gin is here, speaking to us," Law reported low to his team. Jean Bart and Penguin turned to face the direction Sanji and Law were focused upon. While on alert, Jean Bart used his cellphone to text Shachi, who had yet to return from the basement.

"Snoopy and invasive, accusatory and all of them are liars," Gin continued.

"Both of us stand on a line that divides us from them," Robin told him firmly. "While this isn't a situation that demands my attention or involvement, I _will_ become involved if forced. It's up to you to give up what you know in order to rectify a situation you can't pull yourself away from on your own."

"I don't trust you," she continued, Luffy staring through the hole in her head with an expression of horror, "but I can trust that you'll make a desperate decision. One that none will agree to."

"You speak of a loyalty that can't be broken," Gin said low, the sound of scuffing footsteps moving slowly from one end of the wall to the other – as if pacing. "Understand my place."

"If this was an evil man pining shit on you, then give him up! You're dead, it's easy," Law snapped, hand on sword.

Gin snickered, bumping lightly against one table that caused the chairs to rattle. "That easy for _you_ to say, boss? Considering your situation?"

Law frowned grimly, finding it difficult to say anything at all.

"If you're taking turns to speak," Sanji said quickly, slipping off his stool, "then take advantage of the fact that you can use one of us to hide from him when – "

"I don't get it," Luffy exclaimed, hands out. "You don't like him because of what he did to you, so how can you still be loyal to a jerk that just uses you?"

Gin sighed noisily, a window creaking with weight. The impression of that gesture caused Sanji to picture the man leaning against it, and as he squinted in that direction, imagining the picture, he was able to see a very slight blur of a shape against the glass.

"This is something I can't seem to escape," he said low. "The feelings I had when I was alive are still the same now that I'm dead. At my own hands," he added, glass whispering as he shifted away from it. "Doing what I did then just to stop it – it took a certain type of desperation and advantage to do so. Neither of which…feel appropriate, now. I can't speak for him when I bring up meeting you in the forest, because it was _his_ decision to follow."

"So, he's hiding in you…? You can separate, this was proven before – "

"These tactics you speak of…? I've no clue that he does until I see him for myself."

Law glanced at the others, lingering on Sanji until the weight of his eyes caused the blonde to look over at him. At that point, Law looked away, rolling words across his mind until he exhaled shortly.

"My situation is different," he said tersely. "When you brought up 'loyalty'. I…I loved that person, more than I loved myself. Are you saying you have the same feelings for the one using you?"

 _I mean, this isn't a surprise_ , Sanji thought, feeling a twinge in his chest. _It wasn't a secret_. _I accepted this position knowing where I stood. I accepted knowing that I wouldn't be The One like that one was_.

"But I came into peace with the loss of them, and managed to learn how to move on," Law said slowly. " _I moved on_. I found my peace. That's something you can do, too, even where you are."

"But you're not a ghost, and you didn't die with these feelings," Gin insisted. "They're a prison."

"Not an excuse. Even in the afterlife, things can change."

 _Can they_? Sanji wondered, thinking about that unfortunate encounter with his own mother, whose feelings for her children remained the same even after she spent years with their ghosts. Zeff's feelings towards Sanji, who insisted on fattening him up every chance he had. Corazon's feelings for Law – Luffy's for his brothers. Sanji wondered of the man who loved Law; what was the waiter like in the afterlife? Did he try to hold onto Law with both hands, loving him so much that he couldn't move on? Sanji struggled to put his own feelings aside.

"Well," Gin murmured, "maybe you should try standing in my shoes to understand the situation more clearly. For a man that has been embattled with us, you sure lack an understanding of us."

"Trafalgar," Robin interjected firmly before Law could reply, "this situation is dangerous, and unnecessary. There is only one thing to do."

Law glanced at Sanji, noticing his troubled expression. He made a mess, he realized suddenly.

"If you're talking about that guy," Penguin interrupted suddenly, hand lifted with annoyance, "the waiter…? Like, it wasn't a secret, Law. We all knew you were a _homo_. And," Penguin added, looking in the direction of Gin with an expression of exasperation, "trying to fight Law with _that_ argument only solidifies our decision to get rid of you first to get to the other guy. Trying to use your mind tactics against him would be pointless when all of us know everything. He's being _nice_ , stupid, talking like this."

"Nice," Gin repeated slowly, looking at the man. At that point he materialized into view ( _Robin's, Law's, Luffy's and Sanji's_ ) – leaning against the window with his hood pulled tautly over his head, but his hands tucked into his trouser pockets. "That's what this is."

"Giving you a chance," Sanji added, voice slightly thin. "Take this chance to settle this before you can move on.'

"Or we can just beat you to a pulp to help you understand," Luffy suggested. "I don't mind _that_ part. All this feeling stuff? I think you're just talking to distract, and you're giving the other guy a chance to sucker punch us from behind."

"Who's making this argument, anyway?" Penguin asked. "You, or the other guy? Using you to get some sympathy, or to lower the guard so you can sucker punch us?"

" _That's_ what I said!"

"You, or the other guy?" Law repeated. "Are these really _your_ feelings, or _his_?"

Gin was silent, dark eyes moving from person to person until resting on Sanji's. Law instinctively moved towards him, pushing Luffy aside to make room to do so. Luffy straightened himself and stood down on the floor, pushing the sleeves of his jacket up, then adjusting his hat to sit backwards atop of his head.

"That's a good question," Gin said softly. "It's hard to tell, anymore."

"Think about your dog, Gin," Luffy encouraged him with a fist pump. "How did it make you feel when that guy pulverized your puppy?"

"Kid, what if it weren't even me giving you that tale?"

"They're so intertwined that saving him might not be an option," Robin murmured. "I can't tell where one ends and the other begins. But this uncertainty is useful to hear."

"My empathy," Sanji whispered, "could put us in danger. Hearing all that – I'm useless, here."

Law glanced at him, understanding that Sanji was giving him a go-ahead. It troubled him that Sanji wasn't looking at him, but he'd have to fix that later. "You should join Shachi in the basement," he suggested.

Sanji gave a reluctant nod. He slipped off the stool and headed in that direction without looking at any of them. As soon as the door shut behind him, Law felt that he could relax, unsheathing his sword while Luffy ducked out of his way to allow him room to do so.

Gin smirked, removing his hands from his pockets. "Not all parts of this place are protected," he said, parts of him wavering – like heat rising above a desert floor. Filmy black smoke began to gather at his booted feet, causing Luffy a nervous exhale.

Robin's skirts rustled as she took a few steps forward, lifting her hands as the tension mounted. "I don't take threats to my friends lightly," she warned. "I gave you a chance, demon. _Both_ of you."

"What can you do without a gun, copper?" Gin sneered at her, facial expression shifting in variance – almost as if a shadow of another person was threatening to emerge from him. "You can't exactly shoot a ghost, anyway."

"I'm not a cop," she assured him before crossing her arms and lifting her palms. From the folds of her dress shot out various arms, causing Luffy and Law a jolt as they stretched outward and multiplied around her, moving in a building fan with hand grasping forearms so that they nearly formed a webbing behind her.

"Get out," Law told Jean Bart and Penguin, indicating the basement. "Don't come out until I tell you to!"

"What's the password?" Jean Bart asked him hastily as similar arms sprouted from Gin's person, startling the ghost into looking down at himself as more of Robin's arms sprang outward and grasped him. Luffy cried with shock and awe, hands to his face.

All Jean Bart could see was Law's eyes darting about, his expression alarmed. The bar remained still and unmoving, dust motes flashing against the windows. The shadows moved, but only because of the moving world outside of it. Sirens blasted in the distance, and a man ran by, yelling for a bus to wait. Nothing seemed to indicate a rising situation, save for his friend's expression.

"The usual," Law instructed him, Jean Bart nodding before ushering Penguin into the basement, Penguin complaining about seeing or hearing nothing.

Law looked back in time to see Robin's multiple arms rip Gin from the filmy shadows, encasing him within a crushing restraining hold; her multiple gloved hands tore and shredded at the filmy shadows around him, creating a ripping sound within the empty bar that made Luffy exclaim with disgust. Gin's arms flailed to fight as more arms and hands sprouted from his body, gloved fingers ripping pieces of moving shadow from inside and around him. Other gloved hands pinned his arms and hands to his body, rendering him immobile, his expression completely startled.

Multiple voices cried aloud, rising from the pair in ghostly, tonal howls, ice crackling noisily. Luffy pressed his hands against his ears to ease the ear-piercing sounds while Law watched with fascination – he'd never seen Robin in action, before, the woman using only her wits and intelligence to get by. Her gleam continued to produce more hands and arms that shredded at Gin and the emerging shadows from within his ghost, creating more bodies that fought against her prying hands.

"Law," Robin ordered from gritted teeth, focused on her task. " _Gin_."

Law darted forward, sword held within both hands as he focused on the man struggling to escape Robin's clutching hold. She continued to tear more ghosts away from him, shadows building around him in the shape of the demon he was now familiar with. A man's low snarl began to rise above the noises, growing stronger as the shape began to grow more defined around Gin.

Before his blade could touch Gin, who watched him with startled fear ( _unable to fight or defend with Robin's hold on him_ ), a mighty fist created by both hand and parts of captured ghosts plowed into Law from the side, knocking him into several chairs and tables that cracked and broke upon impact. He skidded across the floor, Luffy charging in after him. The demon's shape broke free of Gin, forcing forward with an oily smile.

Robin strained to hold onto Gin and continue forcing the demon away, her face shifting with various expressions. Once she was able to pry the last of the filmy shadows from the ghost, she pulled him hard up against one of the walls, her arms slithering around him in a restraining hold. More of her arms began to sprout up around the demon, causing it a startled expression once it registered her gloved hands wrapping and clutching as Luffy charged.

Law slowly pushed himself to his feet ( _it'd been awhile since he'd taken full impact_ _without any layers_ ) as Luffy flung himself at the demon, using Robin's arms as leverage to punch. The demon's head snapped back a few times before it released a roar, gathering shadows around it to rebuild with strength. Law kicked aside chair debris and charged forward, feeling every impact he'd taken so far ( _forgotten what it was like to be an actual living being_ ).

Punching the air towards him, the demon struggled to keep Law at length while fending off Luffy's attack and battling Robin's multiple hands. The shadows within the bar began to fade, preventing the creature from growing bigger. The wailing ghosts that Robin had torn away from it began to pop, emitting sounds like firecrackers as Law cut through them with his sword to prevent the demon from gathering their energy. Ashes coated the floor and dusted the tables, fading into nothing moments after.

Gin struggled against Robin's hold, straining to be released. Her gloved hands tightened around him to keep him pinned against the wall, her exertion clear on her determined face. Law slashed through the various fists the demon flung at him, then began cutting through the tables and chairs that were then flung in his direction. Luffy punched, then had to maneuver deftly through the throng just to land a fist into the demon's body and face. The chaos was loud and immense, and only Law was visible through it all. The bar was destroyed within moments – pictures flying from the walls, tables and chairs rendered into useless piles of wood and metal, glasses shattering behind the bar counter. The mirror itself collapsed noisily upon impact with debris, raining down onto the black mats below.

The basement door was flung open, and Shachi gaped at the spectacular mess with the others peering around him. They all ducked when debris was flung their way – all they could see was Law fighting off invisible threats with furniture and fragments flying around him in a chaotic shower of mixed debris.

" _Krieg_!" Shachi shouted, feeling awkward with his revelation as bottles and various glasses exploded underneath impact of flying chairs and tables. "The big guy's name is _Krieg_! He was the leader, Gin's boss!"

The demon screamed noisily, heaving a roar that made Shachi's ear drums tingle and Law to attempt to cover his ears as the sound caused the very air to shudder. Sanji slapped his hands over his ears and gave a startled shout as Robin cringed and Luffy dropped back, palms against his ears as his entire body trembled underneath the force. Gin managed to rip his way out from Robin's loosened grip, physically affected by the angry scream.

But the demon began to shrink and change shape, a man's body emerging from the oily shadows with slow unveiling until he lacked the uniform characteristics of an otherworldly creature and took on the depth and length of a dirty man dressed similar to Gin. Gin looked at him incredulously as the air in the bar seemed to lose that radical tension, dust motes glittering in the air as the heavy man slowly straightened from the dirty bar floor, his eyebrows furrowed with irritation. A man of his time, Krieg would have been bigger than most, but compared to the men facing him, he was shorter in height, stout and with a hairstyle that lacked modern day recognition. His trousers were high waisted, dirty and repaired, his shirt sweat stained and dusty, but around his thick neck was an ugly, gleaming accusation of murder.

Blood spilt over his chest and stained his shirt, gleaming darkly in the bar's dim light. His skin, dirty and lightly sweaty, suggesting a lack of regular bathing. He smelled of alcohol, sweat and dust, Law noticed, the back of his hand touching his nose with disgust. Luffy winced and wheeled backward, but didn't drop his guard as the man faced them with a surprised and confused expression.

Gin exhaled forcefully, but his earlier confidence was shattered. He looked as if he'd seen a ghost – he was pale and nervous under the bigger man's confused gaze. Krieg's gaping neck wound spurted with severed muscles and tendons, bones flashing in jagged pieces. His eyes were spotted with broken blood vessels, his neck and jaw bruised by unknown forces. His lips were bitten and swollen, teeth stained with his own blood. His own tongue had noticeable wounds to it, flickering behind his teeth as he gasped for breath. For a moment the big man wavered, stained, dirty hands reaching up to his neck and finding the damage.

He staggered ever so slightly, much to the confusion of Luffy and Law while Robin watched grimly, hands still upraised.

" _Gin_ ," Krieg croaked with confusion, looking at his hands as he pulled them away. His bleary eyes widened with horror upon finding them stained with his own matter. He looked to the other man, who had himself pressed up against the wall, as if trying to evade detection.

Shachi and the others had no idea what was happening – all they saw was a wrecked establishment, and Law looking at something near the front doors with an expression of light confusion.

" _Psst_!" Shachi hissed. "What's going on?"

"It's Krieg," Sanji answered in a whisper, leaning over the redhead to investigate. "It's like…he's confused."

"So typical to miss out on _everything_ ," Penguin muttered in disgust. "Seeing shit like this – how am I supposed to react? Just look like I know what I'm looking at?"

"The tension is very strong," Jean Bart murmured with concern.

"Get back in there," Law warned them without looking back at them. "I don't know what's going to happen next."

Sanji looked at him with worry, but Jean Bart pulled the door shut, ushering the men back into the basement. Sanji lingered at the door, pressing an ear against it and finding it troublesome that he could barely hear anything. He gave Jean Bart a frustrated expression, pushing the door open. The bigger man grabbed his arm to stop him.

"I can see and hear everything, and he _might_ need my help," Sanji hissed at him, yanking away and moving quickly to hide behind the bar.

"All the gleams are gone," Jean Bart reported to Law before he closed the door behind him.

 _Ah, fuck_ , Law thought with some anxiety. _No matter. I've done this before without a gleam_.

Law then looked back at Krieg as the man seemed to choke, hands pressed against his throat as alarm began to register in his expression. He fell to his knees with a heavy thud, wheezing and choking as blood spilt to the floor in a gushing mess that didn't seem to stain anything. The continuous flow seemed to evaporate once it hit the tile, pulsing from the savage wound around Krieg's entire neck. Krieg's wild eyes flitted around the bar, moving from Law to Luffy and then to Robin; he then found Gin near the wall and locked in on his former associate.

Gin froze, like prey caught in the gaze of a predator. Sanji cautiously peered over the counter, noting the reactions with a puzzled furrow of his brow. Everything exuded from the two ghosts seemed to play like a drama in front of him; as if Krieg didn't know he'd been killed by his friend's(?) own hand.

" _Gin_?" Krieg croaked, one stained hand braced against the floor while the other attempted to hold the wound closed at his neck. "What's…what's _happening_ …? _What happened to me_?"

Gin looked to Law, and Law didn't understand the expression. He wasn't sure if the ghost were appealing to him for help or an explanation. Law wasn't even sure of Krieg's theatrics, looking to Robin for some sort of clarification. Robin's expression didn't move, but her eyes narrowed as her palms remained upright, and multiple hands began to grow from the floor around Krieg like a warning.

The man looked at them with utter fright before looking to Gin once more. The modern day bar caught his attention, and his wild eyes took in his surroundings with utter confusion, hand pulling away from his neck. Gin began to take cautious steps away from Krieg's line of sight until the man looked at him once more, seemingly perplexed. Looking down at his own blood spilt on the floor, Krieg seemed to be in a daze until he realized his wound was fatal.

"Who did this to me?" he asked, winded as he spoke. He looked to Gin with alarm, the man freezing once more. " _Who did this to me_?"

"He's a good actor," Robin said with warning, lifting her voice to be heard. "Do not let him close. Any of you."

" _What happened to me_?" Krieg cried, fingers stretching to his throat as he realized his head nearly dropped from what was left of his vertebrae. His face couldn't color as it would have, but it seemed to bulge and strain with veins that were black and stringy. His skin color was pasty white and blue, face slack without muscle strength. Sanji thought that he looked like a corpse ( _he's a_ ghost), a shell of a human being without its soul. He glanced in Gin's direction to see that the man looked absolutely terrified.

 _Don't do anything stupid_! he admonished himself, clasping the edge of the counter as he looked to Law. _Don't do anything stupid_ – boundaries!

"Did someone… _kill_ …me?" Krieg asked as a broken man, appealing for answers in the faces of those that watched him without sympathy. "Am I dead…?"

" _Krieg_ ," Gin spoke up, his voice lacking in any strength and confidence. Once the man looked at him, hands down on the floor to brace himself with, Gin continued with, "we're dead. Both of us."

"… _why_?" Krieg asked on a near whisper. He wore a devastated expression, mouth open with shock. "Why…? Who…?"

" _He_ did, Krieg," Robin spoke up firmly, her voice ringing out over the stillness. Krieg glanced at her, then looked back at Gin with betrayal. Gin looked at Krieg with absolute apology, head shaking ever so slightly before he could speak. "Gin killed you."

"You were out of control, man," Gin explained, voice shaking ever so slightly. "Out of control, there was…there was no way out of it. If not by me, but by a firing squad eventually."

"…How could you…?" Krieg asked, staring at him with such betrayal that Luffy made a sympathetic face. Law reached out and slapped him in the shoulder, causing the boy to look at him with a scowl. Krieg rose to his feet while Gin looked distinctively uncomfortable, as if he had no other place to escape.

Robin's gloved hands clamped down around Krieg's feet, holding him in place. Krieg looked from those to her, seemingly panicked – his breath coming and leaving him in strangled whistles. He looked to Gin again, appealing for help with his shocked expression.

"Sanji, Luffy," Robin spoke up, her voice commanding in the tension. Luffy jerked at the sound of his name and Sanji winced, Law looking back at them with warning. "They work well with each other. This was how their victims fell for the act."

"This is no act," Gin sputtered, glancing at her. "I…I…!"

"A wound that jagged with a corpse's face that twisted…Krieg knew what was happening," Robin explained. "He was looking right into his killer's face as it happened."

Luffy swallowed, his hands to his own neck with some sort of empathy while Sanji watched Law for his reaction; not trusting his own if he looked at either man. Law looked to Robin with an assessing exhale, then looked to the men without feeling to his expression.

Krieg dropped his heads, his expression changed. Gin remained subservient. Gone was the shock and betrayal from Krieg's features, his blood continuously dripping downward to stain a shirt that wouldn't change. Gin swallowed tightly, the sound catching Sanji's ears as he looked over at him cautiously.

"You scumbags think you're that smart, eh?" Krieg uttered with disgust. He smirked.


	13. Chapter 13

**13: I Don't Think You Know Her**

* * *

"I've years upon your experience to know exactly what I'm doing," Krieg told Law directly, rolling his blood-spattered eyes in the man's direction. They then shifted to Robin, the woman's fan of arms behind her shifting direction to slowly encase her, like a drooping flowerhead. "I've learned that our souls can linger…like a bad memory or smell, as long as we continue to grow with the addition of other gleams. Gin, bless his dumb soul, figured out that destroying a body could interrupt the process – but it can't _stop_ it. Otherwise…how is _she_ still thriving?"

Robin's lips tightened, but she said nothing.

"Other gleams won't last like we do," Krieg said, looking to Law once more. "But as long as I keep pulling them in – _I won't die_. Other ghost hunters learned the hard way about it."

"You've run into your last hunter," Law promised, Kikoku pulled up defensively in front of him. "I'll send you to hell."

Krieg laughed noisily. The glass windows vibrated ever so slightly, as if a plane were passing too close overhead. Gin exhaled slow and steady, but his skin seemed to shimmer with a light sweat. Sanji watched him from behind the counter, looking for clues while Luffy braced himself with his fists up in front of him.

"Many have tried!" Krieg shouted at Law impatiently, voice causing the living to cringe ever so slightly. "But I am too mighty to be felled that easily! I was at peace, Trafalgar, living where we were. You decided to interrupt that peace. Now…I take your peace from you."

"Krieg," Gin sputtered with some hesitation, the ghost glancing at him with a frown pulling at his lips, "think about it."

"What's there to think about?"

"Keep your wits about you," Robin said aloud, Sanji feeling a twinge of guilt hit him as he realized she was addressing him. "Do not fall prey to something so obvious."

"I'm _not_ …!" Gin protested in her direction before pulling back his voice and expression, looking at his former employer with resignation.

Law narrowed his eyes as he felt Sanji's attention drift back towards the ghost standing in the corner. "Luffy."

"I'm here, old man," Luffy said, showing a confident smile.

"Be a layer."

" _We're_ going to do the Fusion Dance _together_? We'll be unstoppable!"

"Not _me_ , moron!"

Krieg laughed, filthy hands to his hips. "You two? Against me? Don't you know of my history?"

"Whatever was written about you was lost under the glare of _his_ crimes!" Law snapped at him, indicating Gin. Krieg paused in mid-laugh, looking over at him with a frown.

"We were a successful group," Krieg told Law with a serious frown. "Feared by cops and public alike. Fed like kings, cared for like treasures. We were without any wants. Recognized by those that understood our successful operations. We can't transport it? We brew it."

"So…no Fusion Dance?" Luffy asked, dismissing Krieg's exploits. He looked at Kikuko with excitement, Law resisting the urge to hide his sword childishly.

"I was one of the most feared men at my time," Krieg murmured. "Gin understood that. That's why he obeyed me back then. It is still, to this day, _that_ situation, isn't it, Gin?"

"There's nothing to fear now that you're both dead," Sanji spoke up evenly. "What can one ghost do to another, asides sending them where they need to go? Not like there are anymore earthly attachments. If he threatens you, it's meaningless, Gin."

Gin glanced at him, furrowing his dark brow with consideration. Krieg's wild eyes snapped to his direction, seeming with warning.

"What we die with," Gin said low, "is all that we have left. The fairy tale _he_ spoke of is nothing more than hope in a fairy tale I don't believe in."

 _I know, I saw it for myself,_ Sanji thought with a tightening of his jaw _. I see it all for myself in these streets_.

"But you were also left with the fact that what you did was right for your time," Law insisted, fingers tightening on the handle of his sword while he kept Krieg in line of sight. "And it's still _right_ for right now."

"He didn't kill me," Krieg insisted. "He only set me free! Just as he was supposed to do! This tale of doing the right thing was something I'd insisted on! She said it – I was looking into my killer's face as he slaughtered me!"

"History doesn't mention you," Robin retorted, "because all that's left your mouth are fictional stories!"

 _Then how did Shachi figure out his name_? Law wondered off-hand.

Krieg looked to Robin once more with his face blazing with rising fury. His eyes began to darken with filmy oil, coloring the orbital areas with heavy shadow while his mouth began to elongate – shadows began to build around his shoulders and hair, the sound of hissing beginning to rise from his area. His body seemed to expand ever so slightly, growing in height and width – stretching with unrecognizable material caused by a power Law couldn't place.

He figured Krieg was powerful only because of the amount of gleams he'd consumed. Law hadn't been able to count out how many souls he'd cut to ashes, earlier.

"You might have had sensational exploits," Robin continued smugly, "but it was your men that carried out what you could not."

"I was there, every time," Krieg murmured. "I caused _both_ the living and the dead to fear me. Of course I couldn't draw that much attention – what I could do was already unbelievable. Who would believe what I do? Do they, now, understand what you can do?"

He directed this to Law, who frowned ever so slightly.

"All this dumb talk!" Luffy exclaimed, moving forward. "Less talking, more action!"

Robin yanked him back with sprouting hands from the floor, yanking him clear over to the bar area while leaving Law standing there alone. Luffy grunted as he impacted the counter, Sanji looking over to Gin with resignation and finding the ghost fading slowly from sight – the gleam of his cleaver visible for a split second as he welded it within one hand.

He pushed forward with instinctive action, to get to Law before Gin could while Krieg held the man's attention.

He heard Law's frustrated explanation in his thoughts – _about the waiter, what he did_ – and realized too late that he was doing the thing Law feared the most. He halted in mid-step, even as the instinct to help screamed horrendously throughout his entire body. He picked up parts of a chair and flung them instead, one of the legs bouncing off Law's head and causing the man to stumble. Gin's cleaver missed his neck by inches, allowing Sanji to determine where the rest of his body was. He shot in that direction, whipping a leg around and catching the ghost directly in the chest, knocking Gin out of his camouflage and sending him flying back towards the front door. His cleaver clattered noisily to the floor.

When he was aware of what happened, Gin gave Sanji an astonished look, hand to his chest with surprised pain.

Now aware of what was happening around him, Law shouted, " _LUFFY_!"

Luffy jerked away from the counter, Robin resetting herself with a lighter expression, hands shooting up from the floors and debris around the scene. Sanji hopped backward, feeling the boy jump into him. Krieg reacted by lunging at Law as Luffy took over Sanji completely, Gin picking himself up from the floor with a low growl of frustration.

With a roar, Luffy ripped off the hoodie and shirt Sanji had outfitted himself with, then shot forward to meet Krieg's massive fist before it could connect with Law. Krieg reacted with a start when two skinny arms held his unnaturally large fist overhead, the limb smoking lightly with black, filmy bubbles. Using Krieg's wrist for support, Luffy kicked out with both feet and caught the ghost in the gut, sending Krieg flying across the bar space and into a wall, causing pictures to shatter and fall, and for the entire wall to shudder with a light protest.

Law looked at Luffy with clear shock as the boy straightened himself up with a chuckle, reaching up for a hat that wasn't there. Law looked back at Robin for an explanation, but the woman merely shrugged a shoulder.

She cleared the floor of debris with her multiple hands, giving Law room to maneuver while Gin assessed the scene and Krieg slowly picked himself up from the floor. Luffy shot towards Krieg with a winding growl, the man hastily bracing himself before charging forward to meet him. Both of them slammed into each other, Luffy using his feet to climb up Krieg's thigh and wrap his legs around his ruined neck. Krieg wrapped his massive hands around Luffy's neck as Luffy crossed his ankles and straightened out his legs, managing to yank out of the bigger man's grasp. Luffy reached out and grabbed hold of Krieg's knee and hugged it, blond hair dangling over the floor as Krieg made to steady himself. With a keening growl of effort, Luffy forced his feet to the floor, Krieg rocked off balance with a startled look to his face as both head and neck popped, dangerously stretching from what bodily attachments were left. Blood splattered over the floor, evaporating slowly as Krieg fought to stay steady with Luffy's effort.

Seeing that he couldn't succeed, Luffy hurled a fist into the man's open groin and caused Krieg to fall to his knees. Scrambling out from underneath him, Luffy climbed onto his back and hugged his neck within both arms before using his feet to brace against his shoulders and yank upward.

He barely had time to duck the cleaver Gin swiped at him, losing hold of Krieg's neck and tripping to the floor. Robin grabbed hold of Gin, the man wildly swinging his cleaver about and hacking off various hands and fingers, dancing out of her grasp before she could tighten her hold. Krieg jerked his head up and back before Law's blade could find it, but Kikoku scraped over his thighs and cleaved through one arm before Krieg could stop it. He snagged hold of the man's turtleneck and swung him outward before flinging him across the bar.

Shelves, glasses and bottles shattered as Law slammed into it, dropping down behind the counter with a winded grunt. He curled into a ball as that shielded him from the falling debris, cursing noisily as all aches and pains in his body began to register. Hearing the sounds of the fight continue, Law shakily pushed himself up to one hip – every part of him felt battered and bruised, and he winced as he braced himself for a second wind.

 _I'm going to feel it tomorrow_.

"Last job?"

Hearing Robin ask that caused Law to remember why he was still in it.

"You're not as spry as you used to be."

"Stop calling me _old_ ," Law said crankily, using the counter to rise to his feet. "I'm twenty-fucking-six."

He watched incredulously as Luffy fought Krieg nearly fist to fist – blocking, dodging and throwing bombs that rocked the bigger man nearly off his feet. His fast moving feet and hasty turns and lunges were nearly inhuman – Law had to remind himself that Luffy was in Sanji's body to do so, but it was hard picturing the sullen blond when he was moving like that.

"Where'd you find this kid?" Law asked Robin.

She didn't answer, and Law popped out from behind the counter, seeing Gin watching him warily from the side of the fight scene. The basement door cracked open very slightly, and Law wiped his face ( _blood or booze_?) and kicked it shut before moving on. He stalked towards the man, eliminating flying obstacles that bore down on him in the spray of Luffy's and Krieg's fight.

"To rid of the man, I need to get rid of the dog," Law vowed as Gin prepared himself to fight with a smirk of his own.

"Even if you do, it won't affect him," Gin assured him, lunging forward. Cleaver and sword met in the middle, Law shoving the weapon aside before teep-kicking the ghost – forgetting that he couldn't touch him without his layers. He watched his foot pass through Gin easily before he reset himself and used his sword to do all the reaching. Gin evaded all swipes and parries, cleaver clanging noisily upon occasional connection.

"Just die already, _move on_!" Law snarled at him, catching the cleaver at the guard and hauling both weapons upward. Gin lightly hopped up to move with the motion, then flung legs over head to somersault over Law's head, cleaver unlocked from Kikoku. Gin lunged at him with his weapon, clashing first with his blade, then whirling around to whip it at his head – Law jerked away, twirling sword in both hands to plunge blade back, catching the man's left thigh and causing him to stumble.

Ashes fluttered against the floor, causing Gin a startled expression as he dragged his leg, clapping a hand over that area. He looked from Law's sword to him with surprise as Law reset himself, Luffy flying through the air behind him to impact the front door. Krieg roared with mighty victory before flinging debris at Law, charging at him. Robin's hands caught the debris individually before extending and forming ropes to curl around Krieg's legs, stopping him in mid-rampage. Gin shot forward to force Law towards Krieg, Robin's hands lifting from the floor like flowers and snatching at Gin's feet.

The man shifted attention to them while Law steadied himself and began charging at Krieg while Luffy slowly picked himself up from the floor.

"Gin," he heaved as Krieg easily parried away Law's sword, using his blackened fists to do so. It sounded like metal upon metal, sparks flying ever time impact was made. Luffy's face softened ever so slightly to represent Sanji's, his fists held at his sides as his chest heaved for breath. Gin looked at him reproachfully.

"We can handle it from here," Sanji told him. "You've done enough."

Luffy's face reappeared with an outraged roar, shaking his head from side to side. "Men can only talk with their fists! I'm going to pound my opinion into you with just my hands!"

Smirking, Gin replied, "I know that dance well enough."

"But you made such an effort - !" Various expressions shifted through Sanji's facial features. "So far - ! It bothered you that much to make a change – if this is what you want, it won't fix the problem that bothered you – well, so be it! You gave me permission to kick your ass!"

Krieg managed to rip free from Robin's grasp, sinking into the floor in a flurry of smoke. Robin's fan of hands quickly curled over and around her, multiple fingers plunging into the floor at her feet to provide a safety cage for herself. Krieg ripped out from the floorboards away from her, multiple hands pushing and shoving him away. Others reached out from the floor, tripping him as she stood her ground.

"If I get rid of you, I can get rid of the evidence! Cop! Or were you a government dog?" Krieg snarled, hurling debris at her. Hands formed out from the fan around her, blocking impact from the ghost that stood her ground with determination. Krieg whirled around and blocked Law's attack, gripping Kikoku within one hand, the blade sinking into his fist and causing it to smoke and hiss. Growling, Krieg turned to him, Robin's hands crawling all over him to pull him towards the floor. Gin disappeared and reappeared near Law, forcing him to duck and yank away from Krieg – but his blade shifted and cut just enough to allow that hand of Krieg's to disconnect, flung from his outstretched wrist.

Krieg screamed as that hand turned human – _dirty, stained and twitching_ – and fell to the floor with a solid _thunk_ that seemed outrageous against the fallen debris around them. Gin looked at it with stark action, then looked at Krieg with horror as the ghost screamed. Krieg sank to his knees, holding the wrist that billowed with filmy smoke.

Catching his breath, Law studied their reactions, Luffy looking down at the hand that began to fade slowly – fingers twitching towards the ceiling.

" _Boss_ ," Gin heaved, skin paling as he watched the hand disappear.

"All the power you have, and it's not enough to stop me," Law warned Krieg, flicking his blade aside as filmy oil decorated the sharp edge. "If you want to be sent to hell piece by piece, then so be it!"

"Have you ever seen 'Idle Hands'?" Luffy asked Law, his eyes huge against his face. "Because this looks like the plot to - !"

Law charged as Krieg was inactive, Gin moving to stand in his way. Lifting Kikoku to slash through the ghost, Law didn't see Krieg rise to his feet, reaching out and grabbing Gin by the back of his hood. With a lunge of his own, he slammed ghost to hunter – Law expected impact by Gin, naturally reacting to avoid impact, but instead of evading, he ran right into Krieg's thrown fist, Gin harmlessly passing through Law and tossed aside like a discarded toy. His cleaver landed onto the floor and whirled away while Law collapsed against Krieg with a winded grunt, fingers loosening around his sword handle as his lights flickered.

Luffy was in action, flying high enough to land a heel against Krieg's face as the ghost intended on finishing the task with Law. Law managed to roll aside as Krieg flounced backward under Luffy's kick. The boy landed atop of him, sitting on his chest to land punch after punch into Krieg's face. Krieg rolled off to the side, thrusting the boy aside with a hard push of his handless wrist. Gin slowly picked himself up, hand to his ribs – he looked down at his hand to see ashes collected in his palm, and he was bewildered as to how that had happened in the flash instant action began. He searched for his cleaver.

With a roar of effort, Law tightened his grip and whirled around, plunging the tip of his sword into Krieg's back and pushing downward so that the blade effectively cut through the ghost's shoulder blades, ribs and hips. Krieg jerked forward, smoke and ashes falling away from him – he rolled away, kicking aside debris to do so.

The moment Krieg rested his weight to recover with panting gasps, Robin's hands reached up and latched onto him, fingers cutting into his flesh with the grip of steel. She growled with effort, the fan around her momentarily flickering as she applied all her energy and power into the move. Krieg shouted aloud with curses, struggling to get out of her grip. Gin retrieved his cleaver and was on his feet, placing himself between the man and the two others that faced him.

" _Gin_ ," Krieg cried, using one hand to pry at Robin's, "I'm weak."

"Stand aside! Don't stick up for someone willing to use you as a fucking tool!" Law snapped at Gin, who gripped his cleaver with both hands, feet firm on the floor.

"I'll create space!" Luffy shouted, charging forward towards Gin.

Gin ducked underneath his fists, kicking backward to catch the boy in the back with the heel of his boot. He jumped and lunged at Law, who rolled off to the side to avoid being halved by the cleaver that was then caught within the tile of the floor. Law saw his moment, lunging forward on his knees to cut the ghost into halves, Gin watching him with unease.

He fluttered out of sight, Law watching his blade connect with the floor with harmless weight. He gave a growl of frustration.

"Focus!" Robin cried out, the fan around her disappearing and more hands reaching up from the floor, from Krieg's body to hold the bigger ghost down. Krieg struggled in earnest before pushing himself back down into the floor with an enraged roar that caused the windows to vibrate. Her multiple hands gripped nothing, clenching tightly as the ghost's weight disappeared.

The entire floor shuddered, then seemed to explode upward – the debris left behind jumped and rang out noisily, the three expecting something massive to rise where Krieg had disappeared. Glass vibrated from the floor, broken pieces glittering underneath the streaming sunlight from the windows. The counter, covered with debris, shuddered noisily. Law straightened from the floor, looking around him sourly until the world seemed to burst with excruciating violence.

: :

 _You're a dumb ass_.

The words reverberated through his consciousness, confusing him as his thoughts slowly collected together. In the ringing darkness, Law fought to recognize his standings, growing aware of soft noises that didn't quite come together for him to identify them. Everything ached and stabbed, head pounding with a headache that made it feel like his very brain was trying to escape through his ears.

Slowly opening his eyes, he registered the panels on the ceiling and the heavy silence that followed. He wanted to throw up, but everything felt so damn heavy. Once Law realized that he was staring up at the bar's ceiling, he winced, trying to remember what had happened. The words that woke him caused him to realize he'd heard them before.

He was coming out of a hangover; they'd had a fight. The waiter had told him this as Law was re-awakening, quite aware that he'd drank excessively and that they'd exchanged hurtful words. The waiter was watching him while he smoked, giving Law an unimpressed look while dressed for work. For a moment, Law thought he was actually there, and he was waking up from that disaster where the waiter had left him – on the kitchen floor with a throw blanket tossed on him and a pillow at his head.

But he _wasn't_ there – he was inside the bar, and the noises around him were those of Luffy fighting Krieg and Gin at the same time, and Robin was calling out to him. Sluggishly rolling over, Law blinked the scene back into place, Kikoku vibrating on its own near his left hand.

He stretched out to grab it, his fingers unwilling to listen to the command until finally curling over the purple robe. Law wasn't sure if he could form words to speak, so noises left him in a slurred jumble. He was suddenly grabbed, hauled with violence from the floor and he realized that his crew were behind the action as Jean Bart held open the basement door and slammed it shut to quiet the noises that were happening inside the bar.

"I have," Shachi said hastily, helping Penguin drag Law to the basement floor while Jean Bart held the door shut with both hands. The door vibrated with heavy thumps and rattling that made both Shachi and Penguin wear panicked expressions. Law felt drained and injured, wincing up at the basement lights with a sense of detachment to his limbs that caused him to drop his hold on his sword. The blade clattered noisily against the floor.

"I have the last of the gleams, boss," Shachi finished clumsily. "Take them. You're gonna need them, man."

"It's so fucked up seeing that place destroyed by _nothing_!" Penguin exclaimed, hands to his head. "Like, how are we supposed to _know_ what's happening when we can't _see_ anything? All we see is that guy running around half naked, getting slammed around by invisible things!"

"Gleams!" Law realized with a croak as Shachi gestured at himself repeatedly.

"They're recent ones," Jean Bart assured Law from the door, Penguin hurrying over to help him pull the handle towards them as the door continued to vibrate against the frame. "They're strong, they can help. You're getting your ass kicked out there."

Shachi crouched by Law side, placing a palm on his chest. Law felt the difference immediately, various memories scattering over his own and leaving him momentarily disorientated. A few moments later, Shachi looked down at himself with slow action, reacting to the scene upon display from behind his Ray-Bans with dramatic depth.

"Are there now solar eclipses _inside_ of buildings?" he whispered with horror, hands stretching to the ceiling light. Penguin ripped off his beanie to throw at him as Law sat up, breathing slowly to regain his base personality over the layers of different gleams. "It always amazes me how far into the future we already are!"

"God, you're an _idiot_!" Penguin cursed at him.

Law glanced over his friends before catching sight of a single shadow person crouching behind one of the filing cabinets. Blinking as Shachi exclaimed with awe over the sunglasses he pulled from his face, Law realized that the ghost hiding with his friends was wearing modern clothing – a traditional three-piece suit that was fitting for a funeral. The man's facial features slowly came into view – _the ghost hunter Krieg had mentioned_ , Law realized vaguely. _That_ was how Krieg was named.

Useless knowledge filtered through Law's thoughts as he slowly stood, brushing himself off. Shachi's influence, combined with the gleams the redhead had used to understand today's technology and internet services, rendered Law a far cry from the serious, old soul that he normally was. He took Shachi's Ray-Bans from his friend's hand, pulling on the beanie while Jean Bart and Penguin watched him skeptically.

"What a mess," Law then said with a heaving sigh, hands finding his hips as he frowned down at Kikoku. All he saw in his head were images of anime samurai characters and Uma Thurman in 'Kill Bill'. The sharp whistle of certain scenes hit him as his vision locked in on a blade that looked dirty with ashes. His base personality recalled using it on Gin and Krieg, both of whom were determined to prove their might and get rid of him. He looked to the others. "I need to change my outfit. Something yellow and black, to send a message."

"FOCUS!" Penguin roared at him impatiently, causing Law to jolt with surprise. " _For fuck's sake_!"

Snatching up his sword, Law held it grimly, waiting for his instinct to kick in. His body was fully aware of the sword and how to use it, but he could not get that ominous whistle out of his head.

"Bill and I need to talk," he whispered, Shachi looking at him with confusion while Penguin struggled to understand who 'Bill' was. Jean Bart looked pained. Law then looked to the man that was watching him with confusion. "Who are you?"

The ghost rose from his hiding spot, brushing off his suit nervously. "I, uh…I know that guy outside. I used to hunt ghosts until…well, I was also fighting off depression, and, well…I knew what that guy was doing. I thought…I heard of you guys, so I thought you could go and…I know, it was stupid, but…!"

"There is the ghost hunter from the group that reached out to Penguin in here, if that is whom you are addressing," Jean Bart told Law, who vaguely remembered the Twitter incident with Penguin. The gleams Shachi was using gave him a vague memory of hearing a man whisper desperately into Shachi's ear minutes earlier to give him Krieg's name. The ghost wasn't sure if he would be heard, but he was successful when Shachi had given Law Krieg's name. Jean Bart watched Law face a corner of the room where only their shelves, filing cabinets and supplies stood. "With his method, he pierced the smugglers' group together, and was able to name Krieg. That's what you needed, right?"

"The demon was a man named Krieg," Law confirmed with a nod, blade against his forehead.

"Can you even see in those glasses?" Penguin asked him skeptically.

Law adjusted them, the lenses flashing. "No, but I see why Shachi wears them. He blocks out the haters this way."

"YOU _FOOL_ \- !"

"I'm so _nervous_ \- ! I don't know what to do! This is my first time knowing that all the responsibility is on my hands! I usually have a computer or something in them, I don't play with big ass _swords_!"

Shachi laughed merrily, hand to his stomach. "Blocks out the haters …! Wow, I'm kinda cool, man. But seriously, I can't see. Where's my eyes, man?"

Penguin vibrated with barely contained rage as Law and Shachi looked at each other, laughing with rising hysteria while the ghost and Jean Bart looked confused.

Jean Bart cleared his throat noisily, causing Law to regain his seriousness once more. He looked at Kikoku in hand with a look of chagrin then exhaled heavily. "I think I can do this," he said, moving to the door. "Just got to put the demon away. _Okay_. This is something even I can do, I've done it before millions of times. Where's the on/off switch on this thing? Probably the only thing that could make this all better is if a babe in a bikini was holding it…"

"Krieg will find us and kill us all," the ghost sobbed, hands to his mouth with fright.

"'Those of you lucky enough to still have their lives, take them with you'," Law uttered, Jean Bart snatching Shachi's glasses off his nose before Law could emerge from the basement. He ducked and cringed when debris shattered overhead, belatedly covering his head with both hands and ineffectively jamming Kikoku into the door – nearly stabbing Penguin on the way down. Penguin shouted and threw himself back while Jean Bart wore a discomforted expression – dark eyes flittering to Luffy before moving back to Law with indecision.

Law hastily stood, using a foot to brace against the door and kick out to dislodge Kikoku from the door and watched as Luffy battered Krieg into one wall before kicking out and knocking Gin back. A cleaver flashed, multiple hands moved in flashing tandem to help, and Law felt dizzy just watching a spectacular scene unfold.

"This was a bad idea!" Penguin whispered to Jean Bart, Shachi ambling up the stairs to look out. He gasped and ducked back in, the ghost wearing a fearful expression as the noises boomed.

"LAW!" Robin shouted at him, her voice desperate.

"So much _pressure_ ," Law hissed with dismay, feeling his skin break out in a sweat. Luffy flew past him, slamming into what was left of the counter. In a falling shower of debris, he laid there for a few moments, trying to catch his breath. Gin and Krieg were trying to catch theirs – seeing ghosts struggle to breathe caused Law a troubled expression.

Luffy lifted his head as he pulled himself up, looking tired, but determined. He looked at Law, then tilted his head with confusion.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked, Law looking to him with a start. "You look…different."

"I've got Shachi's gleams," Law told him, brushing himself off as he walked over. Luffy froze at the sight of him brandishing Kikoku like the Bride had before facing off with the Crazy 88. Robin's expression shifted with dismay. "It's the only way we can win right now."

" _Oh my god_ ," Luffy exclaimed, dirty hands at his dirty hips. "We're all going to die. You can't take that guy seriously."

"You're already _dead_ ," Law reminded him crossly, looking at the reflection in his sword's blade to see Gin and Krieg looking at them with confusion. Law turned to face them, struggling not to have a panic attack. Kikoku shook his hands, Luffy looking from that to his face with indecisive panic of his own.

"Maybe I can help. I might not be that brave, but… _but_ …! I can do _something_!"

Both of them looked over to see the ghost emerge from the basement. Once Jean Bart, Shachi and Penguin were aware that attention was their way but not on them, they looked around themselves with confusion.

"Who's this guy?" Luffy asked, tilting his head. "I can see him. He's got weird stuff coming out from around him."

"It's his gleam," Law said, squinting at the ghost. "They're…plants? Plant tentacles? Oh, god, I got _images_ …!"

"What's your name?" Robin asked, voice wavering under the strain of her abilities, but struggling to remain calm.

"…Ussop. It's Ussop. Nice to meet you."


	14. Chapter 14

**A/n: Sorry for the delay – a HUGE THANK YOU! to all those that have read and reviewed this fic and waited ever so patiently for this essential employee to update (not like we have anything else to do *sad laugh*) I DO want to mention that I will be** _**rewriting** _ **The Heart Wants What It Wants because I had a different story hit me suddenly during a night of sleeplessness. It will be deleted shortly, and remastered. :D The glorious pic that it's based off will still be its inspiration (thanks Mazout! Heart Heart!)**

**14: She Sings A Simple Song**

* * *

"This guy is panicked," Krieg murmured to Gin as he observed the clumsy way Law now held his weapon. The man's body language had changed, losing that earlier strength and determination and now clumsily posed as some sort of action hero. The unrest amongst his friends and companions was obvious, causing Krieg some interest. "It's interesting how, despite his base, he is not in complete control of himself. Still, he would be a fine addition to my collection. _All_ of them would be."

"So, not dead?" Gin confirmed apprehensively, fingers tightening on the wooden handle of his cleaver.

"I could live forever in that form." Krieg looked bitterly to his missing hand. "With _all_ my limbs."

Krieg then glanced at his companion as the ghosts ahead of them sorted out their differences dramatically. Seeing the apprehensive look to Gin's face, Krieg scowled. "Why are you hesitating?"

"I'm not," Gin denied quickly. "I'm just thinking – there's four live men standing over there. My name would – "

"You're _dead_ ," Krieg reminded him impatiently. "What does it matter?"

Gin swallowed, then shouldered the heavy knife. "You're right. My mistake."

"Once I am complete," Krieg continued, "we could live again. And find you a shell of your own."

"I've already lived once," Gin answered quietly. "This…is more suited to me."

"I've seen you," Krieg then stated, turning to face him while Gin looked up at him apprehensively. "Conversing with that fellow. It's not the first time. I feel like you're attempting to pull a fast one on me."

"No pulling," Gin said quickly. "Just trying to understand some things. This world, this time is new."

"I've never known you to be soft, so don't pull that attitude with me, now. Not when we could continue living forever," Krieg warned him, seeing Law pull in the new ghost's gleam, merging their forms fluidly while Luffy turned to face the pair with a renewed expression of determination. "But I noticed a new hesitation in your hands since Pearl."

Gin gave a ' _tch'_ , taking some steps away from Krieg to give some fighting space. Krieg thought he heard Gin mumble, "He was just a puppy," but Krieg didn't know why it mattered so much. He looked back at the others, seeing Robin's lips form a slight quirk to it that made him apprehensive. That woman wore the look of a person who was used to fighting men like him – the feeling of 'cop' was all over her attitude. Her outdated clothes confused him, but he didn't give it another thought. Considering her ghostly abilities, she was dangerous. She could slow them down.

If he could just get to Law, the fight would be over. Krieg had a feeling the man was more powerful than the others could handle – but Luffy was confusing as well. Krieg wore physical damage to himself that he had not felt in years; not since he was _alive_. His jaw ached, his body was sore – the whelp had kicked and punched him with such force that it felt like all the spirits Krieg had stolen throughout the years were eventually leaving him. But he knew they all remained trapped within him – he could feel their combined gleams powering his limbs.

But the boy was just a boy, and Law could only use his sword to hurt him. Without it, Law was useless.

Krieg grinned, steadying himself. The filmy black oil bubbles began to build and overflow around him, seemingly staining the surfaces of the floor at his feet and over the busted debris of the tables and chairs left shattered around him.

He tensed his muscles and closed the fist of his remaining hand, watching as Luffy grinned and Law froze. The ghost hunter trembled for a moment, then spazzed out, sword sweeping around. Even his voice had changed.

" _He's still so scary_!" Law cried, Luffy ducking and rolling away as Robin quickly shuttled to the side with an expression of alarm. "Even as a ghost, I can't stand scary things! _That's_ a scary thing! _How the hell did I hunt ghosts for fun_?"

"What is wrong with you?" Luffy shouted back with disbelief.

"He's all menacing! He's going to suck out my ghostly innards like spaghetti! Even with this sword, I can cut him down but will he stay cut? No… _focus_!" Law snarled, gripping the handle with both hands – knees shaking violently. His voice changed ever so slightly, deepening to resemble a near version of his natural voice – but the influence of others were clearly present. "I can do this! I'm a warrior, I've watched _Samurai Champloo_ plenty of times! I'm going to die, but _die_ with _honor_!"

"This is a bad idea!" Robin murmured with distress. "Perhaps those gleams aren't the right move - !"

"Don't tell me what to do, I can do it," Law interrupted her, taking a shaky step forward. His shirt was soaked with sweat, and he clumsily wiped at his face with one arm. His teeth clattered together noisily before he clamped them together. "I can be brave when I'm needed, to."

Luffy rose to face him, facial expressing shifting ever so slightly to reveal Sanji's. His face was full of fear and confusion as he looked the man over, fingers pulling with nervous action.

"Don't be a dumbass," he said low, Law's fear wild eyes snapping over to him with a startled expression. "If you can't do this…maybe you shouldn't."

Law collected himself – mashing those gleams together until his base personality came back to his facial expression and his hands shifted grip on the sword. He stood with confidence as distant memories and thoughts of strangers collided together in a murky mist, giving him the knowledge that he wasn't all himself, but allowing himself to think and react rationally. But this knowledge seemed to waver a bit – allowing him to grow disoriented as to whom he really was. All these personality conflicts merged and sloshed together, barely allowing him a sense of confusion in his base personality – it was gone before he could register it.

That far off ominous whistle occurred once more, and he locked eyes with Krieg, everyone else fading to the black.

"Have you seen _Kill Bill_ , Sanji?" Law asked casually, causing Sanji a mystified expression before Luffy erupted into an incredulous laugh. His face twitched as personalities battled for dominance, but it was Luffy that appeared to Law.

" _Why_?"

"Before Beatrix kills her enemies, she gains a sort of red and black vision as she sites that person with the wrongs they had caused her. And all I hear is that damned whistle. But like Beatrix," Law finished low, sword swiping through the air dramatically before once again in full pose, "I will cut down my enemies with just action."

" _Okay_ ," Luffy said with a weird look, "whatever."

"If only I was wearing the appropriate uniform," Luffy heard Law whisper with frustration.

"I don't remember a gleam _obsessed_ with such a movie," Jean Bart murmured with trouble.

"Maybe you should start labeling them with these kinds of quirks!" Penguin snapped while Shachi stood fretfully nearby, sweating profusely.

"Hey, _asshole_ , get it together!" Penguin then shouted at Law, who jolted at the sound of his angry voice, throwing them a worried look. "I'll beat you senseless if you lose this fight, and you'll regret ever being my friend again!"

" _What kind of a friend are you_?" Law cried back.

"I don't know, man," Shachi whispered, "I never saw _Kill Bill i_ n my entire life! Was I always filled with such murderous rage? Maybe that's why I couldn't do the war, man. I was too dangerous…!"

"It's curious how Law's base is so affected by these gleams," Jean Bart continued, rubbing his big chin. "Almost as if his heart isn't in it."

Penguin waved a fist about. "You get in there and take control of yourself like a goddamn _man_! Stop letting weaklings make your decisions for you! I'll kick your ass worse than the invisible man can!"

Luffy looked over at him to laugh when Krieg's large, meaty fist slammed into the side of his head. Penguin and the others cringed as Sanji's body flew past them to hit the floor with a solid thump and squeak as he slid over the tile. Law looked over at this with alarm before whipping his head forward with a determined look. Much to their surprise, he took several light steps atop of sturdy debris and balanced himself atop of a teetering table, Krieg looking up at him with alarm. Gin threw his cleaver at the man, Law glancing at the weapon before dramatically flinging himself back into an angled pose while the blade sliced through the air and missed him by inches to bury into the nearby wall. Law straightened up and slashed through Krieg's arm with a short, brisk movement that carried his weight off his unsteady base and for Krieg to examine the loss of his arm with a shocked look. The remains of his arm sizzled noisily, bubbling and spilling with filmy black oil splatters before it revealed itself as a long dead limb. Shachi shrieked in horror while Penguin wiped at his face pensively.

" _Krieg_ …!" Gin exclaimed, shocked at the sight of the one-armed man as Krieg stumbled backwards in reaction. The man retrieved his cleaver, all the while focused on Krieg with a disbelieving expression. The older man's eyes seemed to wobble within their sockets as Krieg stared at a stump of an arm cut at the shoulder. His shaking hand from his remaining arm lifted and clamped over that ruined area with light clenching. From his posed position on the floor, Law narrowed his eyes, drawing his sword before him with both hands and then slashing back and forth with dramatic fashion before turning and facing Gin, blade gleaming from what remained of the overhead ceiling lights.

Gin watched as Krieg fell to pieces behind the man, who wore Beatrix Kiddo's satisfied smirk. Krieg's pieces began to smoke and bubble, seemingly melting like acid into the tile below.

" _Shit_ ," he muttered, a stricken expression to his face as Law used flinging motions to clean the blade of his sword.

" _Law_ …!" Robin warned cautiously, hands upraised in front of her. "It's not time to relax just yet - !"

Turning quickly, Law avoided the swipe of a swinging fist as the "animal" form of Krieg burst upward from the bubbling pieces. All traces of the ghost's human remains disappeared to take on the dog form, Gin scrambling for distance with a panicked look to his face. Luffy caught sight of this and was in the ghost's face before Gin could think to defend himself. Gin's head snapped back as Luffy plowed his fist directly into his nose, sending the ghost flying back first against a nearby wall. His cleaver hit the floor with a loud clatter as Luffy caught himself and followed up with several consecutive punches that kept Gin from escaping. Robin's hands burst out from the wall and latched onto the ghost's limbs, folding over and building until Gin couldn't move. Luffy turned and faced Krieg as he roared – windows rattling, floor vibrating, debris shaking noisily – and saw Law poised calmly in front of him, sword up.

"Demon…!" Law snarled, blade snapping back and forth. But along with that action, his short blue-black hair was giving a lashing motion that perfectly captured Beatrix Kiddo's ponytail whip.

" _Why is he whipping his hair around_?" Penguin muttered incredulously, looking to Shachi. "This is all _your_ fault - ! I blame you!"

"Be a lot cooler if I did," Shachi mumbled, fiddling with his red hair. Jean Bart impatiently scooted them further into the basement, hand on the door to pull shut.

"For your unforgiveable shenanigans in terrorizing those weaker than you," Law continued over their hasty words, "I myself shall render punishment unto you."

" _Okay_ , Sailor Moon," Luffy said impatiently, darting over to back him up once he confirmed Gin's immobilization, "enough talk! More action!"

Krieg roared furiously, various hands rising from his shadowy form. He began pelting Law with fists, all of which Law deftly sliced and slashed his way through. Each time he cut a limb, it would hiss and sizzle before reforming another that took its place. He darted this way and that, Luffy occasionally casting aside a loose fist that slashed down in his direction. Luffy was looking for Krieg's weak points while the demon unleashed on Law, their movement causing the floor to tremble under foot.

Jean Bart slammed the basement door closed as debris began to lift and fly, Robin standing pensively as she gripped Gin with all her strength; the ghost himself was struggling to get loose, visibly fading in and out. Luffy leapt over Law's head, the man ducking with a surprised reaction at the height taken and the strength and power behind a single kick into the demon's mid-section. All those waving hands and arms seized, then went limp as the creature slammed into the back wall – causing more pictures to fall, for lights to shatter overhead and the brick to crumble.

Law gaped at Luffy, straightening with an incredulous stare while Luffy cracked his knuckles noisily, striding forward to face Krieg head on. The demon's various limbs all seemed to shimmer and shake before suddenly stiffening – sensing a change in the air, Law jerked Luffy back by his waistband. Krieg's limbs then shot out in various directions, spearing into various surfaces like a harpoon. The pair ducked and dodged as best as they could, but sharp points still raked across their bodies like a knife. Robin stiffened and grit her teeth as her extended limbs around Gin were pierced, causing hands and arms to shrivel and fade away, Gin working his way out of what remained over him. Robin averted her strength and power to cover herself, effectively capturing several points before they could touch her. Parts of the bar exploded as it was pierced, glass shattering and various dishware exploding like mini-volcanos.

Kikoku flashed as it twirled through the air, slashing through various limbs and sending them flying throughout the damaged bar space. Luffy dove behind him clumsily as Law moved from right to left, keeping up with the flurries.

Krieg roared with displeasure once again, drawing in all his remaining limbs. For a moment, Law saw something in that action that caused his entire body to tense – amidst the darkness of his shape, he'd seen something glitter, like a white crystal in the back of Krieg's throat. It seemed to pulse differently from Krieg's shifting movements.

 _His weak spot_ , something whispered within his instincts. It wasn't Law's feeling. One of the gleams, he supposed. _Why that particular area_ …? He wondered.

Luffy watched as Gin shot towards them, cleaver in hand. Gin avoided Robin's reaching hands and arms, the woman lowering her fan of arms just to exert more energy into the effort. Luffy reached back, grabbed Law by his shirt and forced him to face forward, to look into Gin's incoming action. Law shifted his stance as Gin neared him, Luffy facing Krieg. The demon pulled itself into a monstrous, constantly shifting shadow against the wall, filling out the space. Once again reverted to dog form, Krieg's mouth opened, oily film dripping from his teeth.

Even with his back turned, Law could sense that spot – like his vision had some sort of target attached to it. _How was he able to see that impossible thing_? It seemed to beat at his mind like a drum.

 _I can see it_! Another voice assured him, and Law vaguely recalled it as Ussop's.

Gin engaged into a furious battle with Law, both of their weapons clanging off each other in a charged momentum. Law was driven away from Luffy, wearing a stiff expression as panic started to set in. Gin was faster, more aggressive, and he was relentless with the simple weapon in hand. Law shimmered for a moment before allowing most of his body to go ghost ( _Danny Phantom_!) and Gin's cleaver cut through his torso – Gin's expression changed to surprise before Law brought Kikoku over the back of his neck with a victorious lunge and grunt of effort.

Time stopped at that moment as the ghost lost his head. His body stiffly hit the floor while his head rolled, still wearing a surprised expression. Luffy turned to see what happened, eyes widening with horror briefly before Sanji's expression filtered through. Krieg tightened then exploded outward, showering the room with a black, filmy explosion of oil and bubbles. Law whirled around without admiring his work, stabbing just past Sanji's head to force the blade through Krieg's opened mouth.

Sanji jolted with fright at the ghost's nearness, wheeling away from the demon as it gurgled noisily. He realized just how close he'd been to almost having his head chomped off, his shaky, battered hands reaching for his neck in an unconscious gesture. Without hesitation, Law slashed downward into Krieg's throat and pulled out from his chest, severing him from chest to left shoulder.

" _Damn you_ ," Krieg mumbled, before his entire body collapsed with a hissing sizzle – staining the floors and debris at their feet with inky black evidence of his existence. The lack of ashes indicated that this ghost wasn't gone. Heaving for breath, Law froze to assess the situation, watching as film dripped from his sword. Sanji turned to look at him, Luffy's expression fighting him before the timid blond ripped the boy's gleam away from him, allowing the separation to be complete. Luffy stumbled, fixing his hat as Sanji stared down at Gin with discomfort. The man's body and head slowly crumbled to ashes before fading away without any real fanfare.

"I did it," Law said with a low sigh, flinging blade to the side to dislodge the remaining oil left. "I spotted his weakness, almost as if I had a third eye. Yet, a warning – he wasn't fully returned to ash. A formidable foe, yet one that can be destroyed."

Sanji glanced at him skeptically while Luffy straightened his jacket and checked his shoelaces, throwing Law a puzzled look. Once he realized the condition of himself, Sanji hugged himself with a snarl of dismay towards Luffy.

"Clothes are restricting," Luffy explained lightly as Sanji hurriedly searched for his shirt. Robin found it, handing it over with a hand extending from the floor, pushing up from debris leftover from the fight. "Law, what's with all the chaos? Why aren't you totally yourself? You're freaking out, and it's weirding me out."

Unable to answer that question, Law focused on the details that he could see. He glanced about, noticing Gin's ashes – " _I hit that point, I'm sure I did_!" Ussop cried from somewhere deep within him – and then examined the oily imprints left by Krieg's disappearance. He didn't relax his grip on his sword, listening for something out of place by the lax remains of the others' voices.

"Don't relax your guard," he warned, scanning the debris-coated floor. "Krieg is not fully gone. That coward has retreated somewhere – stay alert!"

"Everyone grab a broom!" Luffy cried, looking around wildly. "We'll sweep him out!"

"Or he'll retreat," Sanji suggested, giving a nervous look around his feet. "He strikes me as a man that's only brave in front of others' eyes. And…Gin is gone."

"Less threats to us," Law said, dismissing him as he looked suspiciously around them, visually inspecting the darker corners of the room. Sanji scowled sullenly in his direction, struggling to align himself with Law's dismissal.

 _Boundaries_ , he reminded himself – still feeling the regret.

The basement door opened cautiously, three heads poking out slowly.

"He dead yet?" Penguin asked crankily, Jean Bart frowning with suspicion.

After glancing at Robin, the woman still fully guarded against threats, Sanji attuned himself to their surroundings. Luffy was chattering on about finding a broom, but the living couldn't hear him. Law was watching the shadows on high alert, sword held like a bat in both hands. His pose was ridiculous. There was something familiar about it that made Sanji pause in his own effort.

 _Why is he doing something so_ stupid - ? Sanji wondered with bewilderment before he caught something that didn't fit the overall picture. He held his own breath, trying to ignore the useless chatter around him. He stilled, eyes shifting through the debris as that particular sound – faint and thin – held onto his attention. _Breathing. Someone was breathing_.

The sound was so wide and yet so faint – like it was coming from all points of the room, and yet drawing his attention to the cluttered floor. He remained unmoving, aware that his blood was pulsing soundly as he continued to hold his breath. There were so many oily splotches everywhere that each spot glimmered like an accusation. He swallowed tightly before exhaling, breathing in through his nostrils with careful deliberation.

From his peripheral vision, every form blurry without his glasses, Sanji saw Luffy turn in his direction. Something else shimmered, bright and fast, from his left. He whirled around as his skin bubbled with goosebumps, every hair lifting like it were pulled by a magnet. Kikoku shuddered as it slid like a hot knife through butter through oily black substance that built and appeared like a bubble around Sanji. He saw Krieg's opened mouth poised behind him, and quickly fell back with a wild yelp to escape the demon's proximity.

Teeth clamped down onto the sword's blade with a noisy twang, Krieg roaring with fury and displeasure. Luffy swept past Sanji with a wild cry, using his entire body to slam into the visible butt of Kikoku's handle, shoving the sword deeper into Krieg's mouth. The demon whirled up and away from the boy, fluttering from one end of the room to the other, visibly shimmering and fluttering in and out of sight. But his form erupted with wild smoke and bubbles that burst with accusing hisses as the demon's arms flailed in shuttered action.

Law was immediately there, grasping the handle of his sword while Luffy careened over the creature's back, thin arms clasping around its neck. Krieg shook from side to side to dislodge them both, Kikoku once again firmly clasped in Law's hands and Luffy slamming against the front doors with a grunt.

Sanji kicked to his feet as the demon roared noisily, causing his eardrums to vibrate. The basement door slammed shut as the three living men retreated. Debris crashed and flew as Krieg swept through it, head vibrating in place as a single hand went to his throat. He noisily coughed and gagged, struggling to stand strong as Law watched him cautiously from Sanji's side.

"Choking on your crimes? Krieg?" Law asked with a smirk. Sanji noticed that his knees were suspiciously weak and wobbly, looking at the man with absolute confusion. He was a sweaty mess, and his voice seemed to have changed ever so slightly. "You'll have a long time to think about it, now! If you ever think again!"

"… _Coward_ …!" Krieg mustered, black film dripping from his mouth like oil. He coughed noisily, resuming human form.

"GET HIM!" Robin and Luffy shouted at Law in unison, the man jolting at the sound of their voices. He gulped noisily, Kikoku trembling in his grasp. But his expression visibly snapped to a focused seriousness that still didn't resemble the man in the slightest, shooting forward to finish the job.

Krieg pulled away at the last second, rolling to the side as Law's blade missed him by sheer inches. His one hand shot out, releasing his throat and causing more oil to spill over the floor like a flood of black water. Smoke hissed from his shoulders, and Sanji watched as he landed a successful punch to Law's legs, forcing them to buckle. The man dropped clumsily, sword clattering over the debris.

Robin's arms shot out from the floor, hands grasping at Krieg while her protective fan slowly unraveled to allow more strength in that gesture. Krieg ripped himself from them, standing slowly while he continued to heave and gag. Law looked up at him in alarm, frozen with uncharacteristic fright. Sanji grit his teeth and flung himself at Krieg, Luffy joining him moments later – both of them yanked Krieg's head down to the floor, Law hastily ripping the gleams from his person with an exasperated heave of sound. Ussop rolled out onto the floor, Shachi's collection stumbling and tripping over each other as the ghosts looked around themselves with disbelief and confusion.

Law grabbed Kikoku and cut through Krieg once more, Sanji and Luffy retracting their arms with alarmed cries as the blade narrowly missed them both. Frustrated, Law watched as his blade swept through the ghost with seemingly harmless action – inky black tendons snapped and yet pulled back into each other like snakes, reforming Krieg's neck to body. Law then reached into Krieg's back, yanking out gleams as if they were trash, flinging them aside as Krieg roared.

The demon swept through his discarded gleams, Robin's lips tightening with apprehension. Her hands shot up from the floor around those that were left, her multiple arms snatching hold of each scared, confused ghost and ripping them apart. Ashes coated the air, popping like balloons and sparking like firecrackers.

"Friendly! _Friendly_!" Luffy cried frantically, waving his arms about.

Krieg roared with displeasure as he saw this, Law reattaching himself to the demon's back and pulling out multiple gleams that Robin caught onto with a determined expression. Sanji stood back, nearly covering his ears as ghosts "died" within a hot pop and sizzle, coughing as ashes blanketed his clothes and disappeared slowly without leaving anymore of a trace. Various arms shot out from Krieg, flying in random directions in an effort to grab what Robin hadn't – but Sanji was watching his form steadily shrink, taking back that original human form he had.

Law snatched his sword and jumped back to steady himself as Krieg finally stood before them as the man he was, heaving for breath. His wild eyes shot around the room, hand slapping uselessly at his chest as he stumbled weakly from side to side.

" _No_ ," Krieg denied, winded as he stood there. "No, no, no!"

"Oh, yes!" Luffy responded, shoving his jacket sleeves up his arm before removing and flinging that aside, his hat following. Sanji watched him skeptically from the corner of his eye, then gave him a worried look as the boy removed his shirt as well, surprisingly defined muscles flexing as Luffy faced off with Krieg with an eager look.

"Why do you have to _undress_ for this?" Sanji muttered disbelievingly.

"Freedom, man!" Luffy told him before looking back at Krieg with a grin.

Pensively, Law glanced around them to take in the state of the bar, jaw clenching with irritation. He moved slowly around Krieg, keeping the bigger man in sight as he motioned for Sanji to step away with an impatient wave of his hand. Insulted, Sanji bunched his fists at his sides and prepared to move if he had to. Krieg looked as if he were defeated, his expression clearly in disbelief as he examined the loss of one arm and for the fact that he could no longer change. The ashes that had coated the room had slowly disappeared, signaling the end of the gleams he'd collected.

"I'm not ready," Krieg sputtered, voice thick with apprehension. " _I'm not_ – you've taken my life away. My life, the life of my comrade – and for _what_? We were living peacefully in the forest before you appeared. _You_ did this."

"For entirely good reasons," Law answered smoothly, Sanji and Luffy relieved at the sound of his normal voice. His facial features were once again that of a 'grumpy old man' without any lingering changes or differences that it held when he possessed a gleam. "And none of us feels sorry for you, understand that. Had you decided that life wasn't enough, it would be good to stop you now."

"And you're satisfied with being judge, jury and executioner?"

"…It pays the bills."

Krieg stared venomously at Law, ghostly body shaking with some undetermined emotion. Luffy cracked his knuckles, ready to jump at a threat while Sanji watched Krieg in silence, trying to understand the man's mood for sympathy or excuse. Robin was silent, but her arms were still upraised, hands silently shooting out from the floor between Krieg and the trio standing a distance away from them to provide a barrier.

"And who polices you when you're out of control?" Krieg asked Law.

Law didn't bother to answer him - _my last job_ – his hands tightening around the handle of his sword, vaguely comforted by its weight in his grip. "Time to disappear, Krieg," he said with a firm nod. "The only thing you should be comforted by is that your name was never known or soiled like Gin's, was. So perhaps the only route available to you is Hell."

"If such a thing existed," Krieg said with a smirk. "Where _do_ we go when we're done, here? Where do you think _you'll_ go? I might have taken lives by my servant's hand, but _you've_ taken them and stored them like they were mere items, decided to do what you want with them like a dictator….you and I are the same."

"We are not," Law snapped at him. But he hesitated, eyes glancing briefly to the basement – vividly reminded of the lockboxes with treasured items and gleams that were used to give him power. Then his eyes took to Sanji, who grew aware of the weight of his hesitation, glancing to him with careful action.

In that short length of indecision, Krieg latched onto it.

"You're a weak man," he murmured before shouting, "and I refuse to fall before such a _liar_!"

Krieg charged at Law clumsily – his body stiffening and jerking, as if he tried to activate powers he no longer had. In that space of a moment, his expression reflected his chagrin before Law cut off his head with a solid strike. The bar was silent as Krieg's head bounced lightly upon the debris, his body trembling as it continued to stand. Slowly, it broke down into ashes that built an oily black pile of trembling mass before it, too, faded slowly away.

Disappointed, Luffy relaxed his fists and straightened his shoulders. Law watched the last of the ashes fade, allowing a rare moment of victory to lighten his expression. Sanji watched him cautiously, Robin's hands fading away and the woman giving a low exhale of relief.

"That's it?" Luffy asked with disappointment, gesturing where Krieg stood. "That's…all this glorious fighting, this battle – just…just to end like that?"

Law glanced at him with vexation before carefully flicking some oily matter from his sword before drawing blade away from his leg to clean it. "What were you expecting? Something from a movie?"

"Well…yeah! _Duh_! This huge guy gave us such a big problem, and he's gone like… _that_?" Luffy cried, snapping his fingers. "It feels like a waste!"

"It's over and done with, why is spectacular fanfare required of a victory?"

Giving him a look of exasperation, hands flailing, Luffy struggled to explain, but failed.

"Are you _sure_?" Sanji asked Law quietly as the man turned away from him, searching for his sheath. "This is it?"

Law didn't answer him, the answer fairly obvious for him as he glanced where Krieg had stood. It bothered him that the man was right – _his last job_! – but the guilt was something he'd just have to bear for later. He was no better than Krieg, but at least he could change his way, now. This was his last job. With his vast knowledge and experiences throughout the years, he could surely find something else (safe) to stick with. To live again.

Sanji exhaled shortly as Luffy looked to Robin to whine to, searching for his discarded clothes. "Don't let whatever that guy tell you bother you," Sanji said low to Law, who frowned petulantly with his back to him. "I mean…he was right…? But only one of you is doing the right thing."

Finding his sheath underneath some table debris, Law jerked it out from there, slapping it against his thigh to lightly clean it. Dust rose into the air, glittering briefly within the streaming sunlight from the nearby windows. He sheathed his sword, muttering, "Am I?"

Sanji frowned at his back as he then ventured towards the basement, opening it to give the all-clear. The trio exclaimed noisily at the mess, in shock and awe over the state of the bar and the resulting story.

Before he could step away, he heard a quiet, " _Psst_!" from beneath some debris nearby. Sanji's heart jumped into his throat once he heard it, prepared to run if he had to. His eyes scanned the piles around him, looking for something dark and oily to pop up where Krieg had fallen. But he saw Ussop's nose – barely blending in with the ragged broken legs and battered pieces of unfortunate furniture – moving ever so slightly.

"Is it safe to come out?"

Sanji couldn't help but smile as the worried ghost waited for an answer.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Thank you for your patience!**

**15: …That Sounds A Lot Like His**

After much rearranging and cleaning, the apartment finally felt as if it were really his. It suddenly occurred to Law just how much weight he was walking around as he scanned the place with a critical eye, noting the bare spaces and the lack of personality in the emptiness left behind. It forced him to realize he hadn’t even bothered to let loose with his own personality in the knick knacks and furniture that made up a home he hadn’t spent too much time in. His own bedroom was a familiar mess of clothing, loose hangars and other random items that were dropped and abandoned – it spoke of the amount of time he spent there. The washer and dryer was rattling with activity. The kitchen counters were dirty, littered with pieces of trash, glass shards and abandoned cutlery. But the fridge was empty, begging for replenishment. His stomach growled suddenly, and his mouth felt dry.

He could hear Sanji’s judgement in that moment (“it’s fuck all in the morning!”). It occurred to Law in that perhaps he really was an alcoholic. He couldn’t remember drinking as much when –

He stopped himself in that mental reflection. He stopped himself in that mental reflection. His eyes sought the closed windows, scanning the dull city walls visible beyond the gentle sounds and sight of rain hitting and sliding over the panes. Time paused, like air captured tightly within a shallow gasp, his own thoughts tumbling with directionless movement. Sound skipped like a scratched record that struggled to reveal the audio memory, and the image became a splatter of multicolored paint without weight; it became floating globules of an incomplete picture.

 _It’s okay to remember_ , he told himself firmly. _But it’s not okay to be stuck there._

Years had passed – he was living in a different moment. The ones that he was attached so fondly to had to be let go. They had to stop having so much power over him – because if he couldn’t let go, he couldn’t move on.

With his years of miscellaneous experience in different fields and studies, Law would have to pick from one of them to focus on and find a new job.

No more chasing ghosts. That life…he would have to let go of as well.

 _When an immortal chooses mortality, it won’t be that easy of a transition,_ he thought with some uncertainty. He reached up to rub at his matted hair, which reminded him that it required some attention. The idea that he would have to adjust and reset to this time’s standards made him anxious – he felt unconditioned and clumsy. Everything was so noisy, so loud, invasive – a true cut into his steady silence. He felt jumpy falling into this newest standard; but as he swallowed back words of complaint and a tiresome sigh, he realized that he felt no motivation to slip back into his comforting methods.

 _That was my last job_ , he told himself, resolved to stick with it. _Because it’s time to move on. Because…being an immortal meant forever suffocating under the weight of grief and remorse._

… _He wanted me to be happy_ …

The words caused an uncomfortable ache, but he added, _it’s time to be happy_.

Those words were so difficult to accept, but he was surprised at the weight of it. Before, it was crushing and hot, filled with pain and smothering – this time, it was a dull throb in the lungs, a slight squeeze of his head. It was easier to think.

Easier to accept.

He exhaled heavily, running his hands through his hair once more and then growing irritated when his fingers caught. While he was once an adventurous man, looking forward to the new, this time of newness was definitely intimidating. As nervous as he was…there was another part of him ready to venture into it.

He glanced over the empty spaces where discarded furniture had sat – none of it his own – and couldn’t make up his mind on what he absolutely needed versus what he could do without. This place was so impersonal, almost restrictive, that he almost felt like it wasn’t his in the first place. But the old window and door frames, the peeling tile, the faded wallpaper – all of it were things that he remembered seeing for the first time when he’d first acquired it.

 _What a dump,_ he thought with a wince.

: :

“You want to try looking for somewhere new?” Sanji repeated, looking at him with surprise.

Ussop and Luffy were talking animatedly in the background, their voices almost hidden underneath the din of the living. They were crowded around the blond, and talking over and around him like he were a wall. Sanji was struggling to eat salad with some wheat toast on the side, and it made Law uncomfortable to look at it ( _just eat it!_ ). Diners around them were involved with their own conversations and cheery noises, food being served on enormous platters. The restaurant was bright and cheery with wide windows that allowed a patron to look out over a flowing canal, where a view of low hanging clouds with lingering rain showers were visible in the distance. The air inside felt humid, but Law could still smell the rain.

Law glanced down at his steak and baked potato, a cold glass of beer sitting aside of it. Butter had melted into a puddle around both enormous pieces, stained with juices from the steak. He’d ordered it because he had the appetite but sitting here, absorbing the ambiance, he could feel himself tensing up. The teens’ voices were so loud that his head was already tight with a headache.

Meeting was awkward. Law recognized that he was struggling to relax, and yet…his shoulders and neck were tight, and his words kept tumbling in mixtures that were difficult to release. Without the presence of his friends, without the presence of a job, something familiar to focus on, Law felt as if he were floundering. Sitting in this restaurant had him remembering bits and pieces of a life that had already passed – looking across the table at Sanji had him filled with both fondness and acceptance. He was having a meal with the image of his beloved, and yet…this was a new time. A new era. He kept telling himself it was okay to move forward. He could be happy, here. He couldn’t remain in the past. Every time he looked at this Sanji, he could feel warming affection and blooming interest. His eyes didn’t lift and stray to other men; he didn’t think he could feel anything else for anyone other than the one across from him.

Sanji’s newly cut hair was sloppy and uneven, but it caught on his glasses and revealed the undercut he often rubbed at. He was wearing a denim jacket with shearling that couldn’t possibly have survived this long, but it did. Law remembered the other man wearing it occasionally back then, but the item was clearly oversized for this man now. Law wanted to ask how in the hell Sanji had possession of it, but he remembered that his other self(selves) had left behind remnants at Sanji’s place. Law had worn the waiter’s clothes in the midst of his grief; it seemed amazing that even when he wasn’t occupying his own body, somehow, it continued to wearing Sanji’s old clothes.

Seeing it should’ve caused him pain, but it didn’t. Because Sanji wearing it just reminded Law of a life he’d treasured preciously. He wouldn’t mention it. There was no reason, to.

“Someplace…unoccupied,” Law then added, brow furrowed.

“Wolf is no longer there,” Sanji told him, spearing some leaf mixtures together, then carefully removing them altogether to attempt a different combination. “So your place is basically unoccupied.”

“I understand that, but…every time I look up, I…” Law struggled to think of the right combination of words to use as Sanji once again removed the mixture from the tines of his fork and settled on a piece of tomato instead. “I am reminded of how long I’ve been there, and…a change is needed with this new route I’m taking.”

“Why don’t you just buy a house? Someplace quiet, somewhere where there isn’t so much noise,” Sanji added, concentrating on spearing a couple of leaves with the tomato. He winced, but deliberately dragged it over a side serving of dressing. The choice had both teens pausing in mid-conversation, their faces showing disgust and revulsion as oil dripped back into the plate. Sanji put his fork down and dragged his fingers through his messy hair.

“Give me some damned space!” he snarled at the pair of them, using his body to push them aside and causing both ghosts to grumble as they reluctantly took to the ends of the bench. Sanji then ignored the salad, choosing his iced tea instead.

Law considered the idea. But even the sound of having so much space to himself felt like an unwelcome weight.

“Houses are meant for families,” he said slowly. “And though I’d invite my friends to live with me, they prefer their own spaces. Grown men, individual attentions. I could force them, but that won’t end well.”

“With the prices around here, it’d make sense to buy a house,” Sanji insisted. “Rent shoots up every quarter. And you haven’t found a dependable job just yet – wait it out until you’ve found something steady. No need to rush.”

“This is a new beginning for me,” Law said. “It’s time to make some changes….time to accept those changes…time to do it differently. I want to. I can’t continue to allow myself to linger in the past, or allow it to continue suffocating me. I want to move forward…”

 _With you,_ he wanted to add, but couldn’t quite allow them to leave his lips just yet. Not when there were so many diners present, when…he cringed, feeling impatient with himself.

Sanji watched him with apprehension, thin fingers weaving together with a clenching hold as anxiety swept through him. Luffy lunged over him to show Ussop his wallet, Ussop bemoaning the lack of his. Impatiently, Sanji elbowed both of them aside to give himself some space. To anyone looking, the action looked rather odd. He hunched over with a self-conscious cringe, attention diverted to his plate.

“Changes, huh?” he murmured.

“To my living situation,” Law said firmly. “To living normally. Not as this…immortal.”

“ _Vampire_ …”

“The group is disbanded, we’ve…gotten rid of the, ah, secret office in the bar. Jean Bart intends on running it as a normal business, and we’ve changed our numbers, Penguin has deleted his Twitter, Shachi promises to do away with his…hentai? Addiction.”

Sanji snorted. He scratched at the side of his nose, then pushed his glasses up with the crook of his finger. “Do you have any idea on what you want to do?”

“What about your job?”

“…Quite honestly, I can’t see you in the food industry – ”

“I meant, your restaurant is closing down, so how will you…?”

“Oh, that’s no problem. I can find another anywhere. I have great references.”

“As a…as a waiter?”

“Yeah.”

“…For the rest of your life?”

Sanji looked up at him with a puzzled frown, then shrugged. “I mean, it’s the first job I was able to get in high school. I’m good at it.”

“Don’t you want to do better? I can’t imagine that it’ll pay most of your bills for – ”

“You’re so invasive.” Sanji swallowed quickly as he saw the look of frustration cross Law’s face, and he said quickly, “Because you’re shifting focus on what you want me to do, when we should be focused on how you’re going to change your life around with your decision. Are you finding it difficult to branch out, or are you looking for inspiration elsewhere?”

“I’m not evading it,” Law answered, picking up his utensils to cut at his steak. “I’m…trying to find steady ground. I am confident I can choose a profession and stick with it. Branch out from there.”

“As a doctor?”

Law briefly remembered a stint in a small county hospital – back in the sixties. He shook his head. “No. Times have changed. I just…I have professions. I just am not sure which to stick to.”

“This kid I called some time ago remembered you.” Sanji then wore a puzzled frown, quickly backtracking. “But…if you were one in the sixties, then the timeline doesn’t add up. He was already in medical school, I think. So…that wasn’t you.”

“Why would you call him?”

“I have a stack of journals that I keep pushing at you so you can…look through them. See what you were up to. Of course, a lot of it is just my ranting and raving and frustrations, and…you can just ignore those parts.”

The bite of the steak wasn’t appetizing. Law chewed just to ensure he wouldn’t choke, then swallowed it. He set his utensils aside, glaring down at the plate. Either his tastebuds had changed or the food itself – he hoped he adapted soon. The only thing that didn’t seem to change was the alcohol he consumed. He rubbed his forehead with one hand, the fingers of the other clasped around the glass. Both Luffy and Ussop were peering at somebody behind them, Sanji frowning at his own plate while lost in his own thoughts.

“If I could find a good restaurant,” Sanji said slowly, picking at his salad once more with his fork, “I could possibly work my way up. I don’t have that much confidence in cooking, but…I mean, I could learn. After ripping out someone’s heart, my attitude has changed a bit.”

“ _Whose_ heart did you rip out?” Ussop asked him fearfully, turning in his chair to look at him while Luffy followed suit.

“This unruly ghost. Don’t barge into adult conversations.”

“We are almost the same age, don’t give me that attitude, you scumbag,” Ussop snarled back at him, Luffy laughing in delight as Sanji looked at Ussop with warning.

He held up fingers that he curled in slightly, saying low, “Kali Ma, Shakti de…”

Ussop shrieked, hands over his heart while Luffy looked puzzled, hand absently rubbing his chest.

The waitress cleared her throat, Sanji stiffly hunching in once more, embarrassed. After she finished checking up on them, she hurried away, the teens’ voices growing loud as they spoke over each other and Sanji picked up his fork once more.

Law narrowed his eyes, hands together as he used the tips of his fingers to support his chin. “Instead of that, why don’t you - ?”

“NO,” Sanji told him firmly, looking at him. “Ghosts are such a headache.”

He ignored the teens’ outraged words, wincing.

“And instead of using our old business,” Law continued, as if he didn’t hear Sanji, “we could go without – ”

“I said NO, you asshole. All my life I’ve interacted with these shitty bastards, and they never get any quieter – they just seem to get bolder. And fighting demons? What a shitty job. I am not fit or cut for such a venture.”

“We _threw_ a _car_ ,” Luffy reminded him, sitting. “I think we’re fit enough.”

“As a medium,” Law continued without pause, speaking over both. Once he had their attention, he then said, “And we could use you to find smaller cases– ”

“Ugh!”

“ – and destroy the peskier ones. Without layers…not as adventurous as the cases we have, but something…flashy, like…reading palms, or something…”

Sanji looked at him with concern. “Are you _high_?”

Law sighed with exasperation.

“Like Ghostbusters?” Ussop asked curiously, leaning in over the table to hear. “That might be fun. I mean, as a ghost hunter myself, I was constantly terrified, but…I had such good times. I am excellent as the fear finder – they’re drawn to me and my shrieks!”

“I could beat up more ghosts! Test my might!” Luffy added with a gasp as Sanji wore a tormented frown.

 _Safe to think that it wasn’t just food he was attracted to,_ he thought about Luffy, _but the physical fights._ _Weird kid_ …

“You’re not the only one that can hear them, you have a safe and secure home for your rest and space, and the money it brings in can pay the bills,” Law added. ‘That way, I could use this time to decide upon a regular profession, possibly do something online for a certificate – “

“Haven’t we already had this conversation? Apparently, I’m not good at boundaries…and those things piss you off.”

Law tapped his fingers together, looking at Sanji with a hard frown. Sanji could feel his shoulders lift as he lowered his eyes to his plate (he still hadn’t taken a bite!) and he struggled with himself to fight the automatic reaction to a male’s reproach.

 _Two and a half years_ …! he thought angrily.

After a few moments, Law then asked, “Why do you do that?”

“Do what?”

“You’re like a turtle. Sliding back into his shell whenever he feels threatened, yet,” Law added crossly, “you can obviously stand up to demons and ghosts and tell them ‘fuck you’ and place yourself into danger without obvious thought to others - !”

“It’s a complex I have, okay?” Sanji snapped at him, stabbing his salad with his fork. “I told you how much I hated men before you – them – _they_ – came along. This whole interacting with others outside of my mom’s smothering is still new to me!”

“Well…why?”

“What do you mean, ‘why’?” Sanji started to grumble before he remembered that this Law wasn’t aware of the situation. He was only there the day they found Judge dead, and Sanji didn’t talk about his family if it didn’t come up.

 _Stop being a bunghole,_ he told himself crossly, lowering the fork once more. _If you have nothing nice to say_ …

“Because of this issue,” he said quietly, pointedly changing the tone of his voice to remove the anger and impatience and anxiety that constantly held his throat, “this…ghost issue, the males in my family harassed me about it all through their living lives, and their deaths. It wasn’t until they were removed that…anyway, I’m still working through it.”

“You’re a…uh…very insecure creature.”

“Well, I am human,” Sanji said drolly, rolling his eyes. “Certainly not teeming with confidence or security, but…”

“I don’t know why,” Ussop whispered from the side, obviously listening in while Luffy stared at Law’s dish with helplessness. “Because you speak your mind just fine. And, you’ve got this cool gift - !”

“Talking out loud to something that isn’t there earns crazy looks, Ussop. Butt out.”

“RUDE.”

“And this is why you don’t eat?”

Sanji inhaled and exhaled forcefully. “Our cook, Zeff, constantly over fed me as a kid. When I got out of there, I took my diet plan a little too far. Now it’s…something I’m working on. But admittedly, my stomach has been in knots lately, and…all I have is this…”

He trailed off, eyes fluttering towards a different direction. Was it okay to talk about his fears? His insecurities? Was it okay to tell someone how he felt nowadays, where the threat of being alone and abandoned was a hard, constant weight in his chest? How he didn’t feel worthy of another man’s attentions, despite his want to cling to it? How to say those types of things without making them seem manipulative, without making Law feel like he _had_ to.

And even if Law felt anything, was it the right thing for the right person?

He ended up clenching his jaw, then stuffed his mouth with salad, finding it difficult to chew. Law just looked at him with puzzled regard, the teens looking in opposite directions with undisguised awkwardness. Sanji couldn’t chew – his food just clung to his teeth, roof of his mouth and his tongue. So he held it in his mouth with reluctant strength.

Law remembered that Sanji had held eggs in his mouth that one upsetting morning when he’d brought Kreig back from the forest. While the memory was dim, due to the possession, he recalled that Sanji had been put into a dangerous situation and had froze in such a way before acting. He realized that pushing for personal answers at this point was enough to cause an insecure person to close up.

He cleared his throat, attempting to cut through his steak once more. But he wore a bewildered expression because he wasn’t used to insecure people – those around him were aggressive and quickly confrontational, and he had the thought, once more, that this man across from him would burst into tears at any moment.

Unlike the other, who’d easily cause a scene if he felt Law was cutting down on him –

 _They were the same_ , he rationalized. Just opposite ends of the spectrum. One closed up, the other opened up.

 _Not the same_ , he amended quickly. But….

“Sorry to pry,” he then said gruffly, trying to change the expression on his face and using the food in front of him to cover up any other vocal mistake he’d make.

Sanji watched him cautiously, inwardly hating himself and his own actions. The food in his mouth began to feel uncomfortable, and it hurt to chew.

 _Do you realize how irrational you are_? he asked himself bitterly, attempting to swallow anyway. _Do you realize how uncomfortable you make people? Jesus H Christ, get it together. Straighten up._

After he drank from his water, he set the cup down and held onto it. He winced, eyes watering and throat constricting as lettuce leaves continued to scratch at his throat. Law glanced at him, and once he realized Sanji’s condition, he froze.

Sanji coughed a few times, hand over his mouth, then cleared his throat and drank more water. He was mortified by his reaction, coughing a few more times. Ussop and Luffy watched him cautiously from the corners of their eye as he continued to cough, finding it difficult to breathe. In frozen reaction, Law watched him, other diners looking over with caution.

“Go into the light if you see it,” Luffy told Sanji with concern, Sanji looking at him with watery eyes. The teen reached out and patted his shoulder. “Because being dead isn’t that much fun.”

“I’m – _not_ \- !” Sanji tried to say angrily, but he couldn’t clear his airway. He continued to cough, trying not to panic, but his hands went automatically to his throat. Law hastily stood from his chair as other diners went quiet with horror, the wait staff looking concerned.

Amidst his coughing, Sanji thought with horror, _Is this really it? Am I going to fucking die over shitty lettuce? How fucking hilarious!_

He pushed away from his chair once he realized Law intended to reach him, and stumbled outside. He made his way to the alley nearby, coughing and hacking, trying to breathe at the same time. Law angrily grabbed his jacket, to apply the Heimlich, but Sanji shoved away from him. He was finally able to breathe in deeply, mortified and embarrassed by the whole scene. Wiping at his mouth and eyes, Sanji struggled to think as Ussop and Luffy appeared suddenly at his side, waiting with expectant faces. Ussop stretched his arms out with a welcoming hug while Luffy watched skeptically, both teens expecting some sort of ghostly show.

“I’m _NOT DEAD_!” Sanji snapped at them impatiently, causing them to jerk away. He looked to Law, who wore an expression of dread and horror, clearly traumatized by the incident. He gestured at himself impatiently. “I choked on some lettuce. That was it. Clearly, I – ”

“Do you realize how _cursed_ you are?” Law asked, his voice erupting with building anger. “How fucking cursed you are in restaurants?”

“Aye, there’s a possibility,” Sanji said lamely, Ussop muttering something to Luffy that had Luffy catching a hasty snort.

“No more!” Law shouted him, feeling his face turn red, blood buzzing noisily at his ears. “NO MORE!”

Sanji didn’t have a response to that, his shaking hands finding their way to his pockets as he glanced around them self-consciously. He wanted to laugh, but he was also so mortified by what happened. People glanced at them from the sidewalk – he expected the staff to appear at any moment, to either check up on them or demand payment. But he did chuckle a bit, lowering his head as the cold chill nipped at them.

“I mean, if it were a good burger, it would’ve been better than a car accident,” he heard Luffy mumble.

“Or being killed by a ghost,” Ussop said gravely. “I mean, I _think_ I was killed by a ghost. I never even saw my own funeral. I assume I’m a ghost, because I’m here, and - !”

“Oh, you’re a ghost,’ Luffy assured him, punching his arm and having Ussop react with a cry.

“I was _killed_ by a _ghost_?” Ussop then cried with horror and surprise, hands to his face.

“If I could,” Law told Sanji over their voices, Sanji looking up at him with trepidation, “I’d lock you up in a box to prevent your damned death again!”

“Then I’d really be dead,” Sanji answered skeptically, hands balling into fists in his jacket pockets.

“Sanji, you already dead?” Luffy asked incredulously. “How’d you come back to life?”

“You almost choked to death on your _food_!” Law exclaimed, gesturing wildly before he caught himself. It took a few moments to rein in his building emotions, but he did turn away, using the moving visuals of the street before them to compose himself. He felt winded. He felt the edges of his raw emotions from the other’s death heating his blood. The combined sensations of horror, loss, grief – all building into something hot and seemingly tangible. But he’d been present, this time, and this thing – this common, every day thing – had iced his veins and cleared his mind with grey hazed panic. Almost as if he’d witnessed near death himself.

From salad.

An everyday, common house salad from a restaurant with shitty food.

His hands found themselves atop of his hat, in his matted hair with incredulity. Sanji watched him skeptically, wiping his mouth with self conscious action. Despite the situation, his lips curled into a rue smile, and he ended up chuckling, turning away to shake his head.

“Stupid,” he muttered, the teens looking at him with confusion. “Not you guys. Just…the whole situation.”

“Let’s run so we don’t have to pay,” Luffy suggested, tugging on his coat.

“You don’t have to worry about that!”

But maybe Law had heard Luffy, because he turned and grabbed Sanji’s jacket, indicating a hasty escape from the place. After making their way a few blocks away, standing near a pedestrian bridge near the bar, Law let go of Sanji. Sanji had some time to compose himself, feeling outrageously guilty for causing such a fuss, and for allowing such a scene to happen because of his own reactions.

 _Straighten up!_ he told himself once more as Law glared out over the intersection, Luffy and Ussop marveling over the way they could pass through moving traffic without trouble.

“Look, I’m sorry,” Sanji apologized clumsily. “That was my fault. I didn’t mean to cause such a shitty scene – i…I clamp up, sometimes, and…that was my own stupid mistake. I didn’t mean to give you a heart attack… over a shitty salad…To be honest, their food was terrible. I mean, you didn’t even eat yours, so…”

 _You would’ve marched me back in there to finish it_ , Law thought to himself angrily. But he put a clamp on those feelings, on those memories ( _not the same person!_ ). He also realized how big of an issue he made it to be. He felt his ears redden, his face climb with a rising blush. He stuffed his shaking hands into his pockets and tried to think rationally.

Sanji glanced at him, pushing his glasses up his nose. He made sure the teens were close enough to hear (away from trouble), then said, “I have trouble talking about my personal issues. I have trouble opening up to men. And at this time, I think that everything I have to say is…something my mother would to manipulate someone. I’m not…trying to guilt you into feeling anything for me. I’m not going to pretend to be someone that you once knew – what you see in front of you is what…you get. And I often feel like that’s not good enough.”

“But…those are your feelings,” Law mumbled. “And haven’t we agreed that saying anything at all is better than nothing? No matter what the weight?”

“Yeah, but…I often feel like I’m guilting you into…being around me,” Sanji said. “And I don’t want you to feel guilt. I want you to find my company titillating enough to want more of it. I want to say the right thing, but I…I close up because I…I mean…I know what I look like! I know what I don’t look like! I know that I’m this shitty turtle that retreats from harsh words, and - ! I don’t know what the other one would have done but - !”

“You’re not the other one,” Law told him gruffly. “And I need to…I accept that.”

Sanji gave him a look of consternation. He felt panicky and shaky, and wasn’t sure how to keep himself from reacting as such.

“He gave his life away,” Law said slowly, focused on the sun that was slowly sinking into some low hanging clouds, briefly hidden behind some towering buildings that were already glittering with light, “and it turned into yours. You have his face, but your personality, your issues, everything else – are not his. He gave you a gift. And I’m…I’m ruining it with my own expectations. I know you’re different people. I accept that. But at the same time, when you say shitty things or cause my thoughts to pause, you’re speaking with his voice. And because of that, I’m…irrational.”

Furrowing his forehead, Sanji turned to look in the other direction. Sometime, in the midst of their conversation, Ussop had dragged Luffy away to give them space. Seeing the teen dressed in his high school jacket, and the other in a formal suit, both invisible to the living, gave Sanji a visual grounding. There were other ghosts present in the scene, but none so much aware of each other as the teens were to them. They wandered about in clothing that gave away their endings, wearing shocked faces, or manic expressions. Sanji turned his attention to the sidewalk to avoid giving them any invitations.

He heard Law exhale heavily. “I’m aware that I’ve been…closed up. As…you know. That’s why I keep mentioning that perhaps it’s – that I’m willing to change. I keep saying that. But everything feels so…shocking. Like this. I’m reverted to my previous feelings and thoughts when something reminds me of those moments, and…inwardly, I can catch myself, but…I am…panicked.”

 _Like me,_ Sanji thought absently.

“Then, what should we do?” he then asked. “About ourselves, and these feelings?”

“I…I don’t know, I seem to be…fumbling every time it happens, and I react too harshly. But I’m sure of it – I’m…I’m positive that I want to move on. W-with you. I want to move on with you.”

Sanji looked up at him with a soft expression.

“I know, I know, I have – a shitty way of expressing myself, of saying things..I’m used to being kicked in the head for my transgressions,” Law mumbled awkwardly.

Sanji watched him with uncertainty, then said incredulously, “Even if I do, I’d feel horrible about it. No wonder your thought process is so addled most of the time. You’re living with brain damage.”

“I would prefer not being kicked in the head, thank you.”

“He sounded abusive.”

“I was the one with the abusive words that deserved those kicks.”

 _Well, I can kinda understand_ why, Sanji thought. “So…you deserved it.”

“I…don’t think so, but…these differences, they’re tough to separate. At the same time, I’m being confronted for the same things…” Law trailed off, and Sanji had to wonder once more, _Is he gone? Or am I him, just asleep?_

“Gleams disappear after awhile,” he murmured, Law glancing at him. “And haven’t we agreed that he’d just left an impression? I’m not him, yet…sometimes the things you say cause me to wonder if I am, and that I’m just…he’s just a character I’ve yet to unlock.”

Law looked puzzled at the reference, so Sanji waved that away. The cold was registering, now, and he couldn’t repress a shiver.

“I…!” Sanji then cut himself short, wearing a frustrated look. But he built courage to look him in the eye and say, “It’s _you_ I have feelings for. Before and after. Make no mistake about that. I…I like the old man in you. I like your stupid, manic thoughts, and I like how much you dig, and - ! And I just want to mention that…that I hate men, yet…you’re attractive as fuck, and I can’t stop looking at you.”

Blushing hotly, he had to look away, reaching up to fiddle with his hair. “My feelings for you don’t seem to end or begin – they’re always going to be there.” After a few moments, he murmured incredulously, “Maybe I was born to see you, and only you, because I can’t even imagine having this situation with another man…maybe his feelings were that strong…to continue even after…?”

Law heard the waiter’s words in Sanji’s; their brief weight when Law approached him in the restaurant. His mind buzzed with happiness and joy, yet he had to pull himself back because…

Reaching out to grip his jacket, Sanji managed strength to look him in the face once more. “We agreed to work this out. But…the hiccups in between, caused by scenes like these, we just…have to be careful with them. I…that was my fault in the restaurant back there because I froze, like always, because I don’t want to lose you, but I’m always scared that I will because I’m not him - !”

“I know you’re not,” Law said gruffly, conditioned to glance around for the action but catching himself immediately. Despite his reactions, these were different times. Men could express themselves to each other. He released one hand from his jacket pocket, to catch the one holding onto his jacket. Sanji’s skin was cold, his bones jarringly obvious beneath his cold skin.

They weren’t the same, but Sanji’s hands were the same shape and width; Law felt he knew these hands as well as he knew his own. His own skin seemed to vibrate with the knowledge of knowing them. His own hands easily overwhelmed the other’s; and it felt natural to envelop it within both of his to warm it, feeling his heart race soundly and his blood to thunder because he was doing something he’d wanted to do and wouldn’t allow himself to. Not then, not now – but even his own flesh was crying for contact; crying for, and crying in relief.

It seemed so silly to have held back when every time he’d feel so much regret.

Sanji tried not to say ‘ _ow_ ’ but Law’s crushing grip was grinding bone against bone; it wasn’t intentional. Judging by the look on the older man’s face, he was either caught up in emotion, or forcing him to go against his own instinct. Sanji pulled up his other hand to curl over Law’s, gently prying them apart and trying not to show any pain in the action. But his grip was firm as he held Law’s hands within his, feeling so breathless that he couldn’t think.

“Can we just…cut the shit between us? Maybe it won’t be like the one before, the one you knew, but obviously…obviously both of us are drawn to each other so…for both of us, just…! Stop feeling so insecure. I’ll work on that, you work on yours – no kicks to the head, unless you’re trying to eat me, or something, and - !”

“No more restaurants.”

Sanji paused, then gave him a firm look. “We can go to restaurants together, but not going to one is unreasonable in this day and time because neither of us can cook.”

“I can learn,” he then insisted as Law made to argue, wearing his impatience on his expression, “but in the mean time, both of us are going to starve to death.”

“When I grow more confident, then perhaps we can visit another restaurant, but that’s going to take some time – ”

“The more you speak like that, the more I start to understand _why_ you were kicked in the head.”

The stern look being given to Law was _him_. He was struck once more by the visual. Almost breathless.

“I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you again,” he confessed tightly, the words scraping at his throat as he released them.

“It won’t happen,” Sanji said firmly, reaching up to grip his head between his hands, insisting on it with strength as Law seemed to lose his ability to breathe, all his emotions in those given words. Pressing their foreheads together, he insisted, “It won’t happen again. I’ll be careful, you’ll be careful. I don’t pay attention to the living that much, I won’t even notice whatever took him away the first time, I promise you that. I’ll chew my food. But I believe it, from the bottom of my toes, that I was meant to love you again, and I will. I just need you to take it easy on me for now, and I…I will do what it takes with you. All right?”

Law was frozen in his grip, and his mind was shuttering between this time and that. But he appreciated Sanji’s hands on him, the feel of his presence near his – in the open, in front of people that barely gave them any glances or attention, he felt like he was being held afloat in dangerous waters. It was quiet in Sanji’s presence, comforting. But he felt reassured after what felt like so long of an absence; he believed in Sanji’s words. He believed in the other man. The entwinement of both now felt like a blessing.

“I don’t know what’s right or wrong,” he confessed.

“Did you the first time?”

Law had to answer ‘no’. He didn’t. He had to learn – harshly – from his own mistakes, but now that he was aware of them…not that this time would be any easier. But at least…

Sanji pressed a gentle kiss against his forehead, lingering for a few moments. Appreciative of the chance to do so.

“Get a room!” Luffy called from a distance.

They straightened away from each other, the teens ribbing them with good nature.

“Let’s go home,” Sanji decided, stuffing his hands into his jacket pockets. “And figure out what to do with our future.”

: :

Sabo was visibly nervous when he pulled up to the train station. At the early morning hour, he wasn’t expecting to see the bespectacled weirdo again, and he grew flustered upon at seeing the other man with him. That one was tall and intense, dressed in a trench coat and outfitted with a black hat. Sabo immediately wondered if he were some old time detective, bought to investigate that old building because he fit the image of the old pictures that often depicted its customers of that time. Sabo gripped the steering wheel with both hands as he settled at the curb. Sanji climbed into the back, already grumbling with impatience while Law took the passenger seat with nothing more than a grunt as he forced the seat back. He had a black overnight bag with him, which he settled another slender case atop of at his feet.

“You return to our little town,” Sabo said to Sanji, voice shaking anxiously. He adjusted the rear view mirror, unaware that Luffy and Ussop were fighting over who had to sit in each other’s lap while Robin delicately placed herself in the middle of the backseat. There was a lot of room in his backseat, so to see Sanji deliberately smoosh himself against the door earned an odd look from Sabo. He watched Sanji struggle to seatbelt himself in, whispering low underneath his breath for “two assholes to settle like fucking men and not goddamn children!”

Sabo inhaled and exhaled evenly before looking over at his new passenger, whose eye twitched noticeably as he glared out the window.

“Hi, Sabo! I’m back!” Luffy said breathlessly as he settled atop of Ussop’s lap and then leaned forward to rest against the back of Sabo’s seat, causing Ussop to screech noisily. Robin calmly folded her hands atop of her lap and beamed brightly.

“Both of you are headed back to that place, eh?” Sabo questioned, reaching out to touch the screen of his phone before checking his mirrors. “Must’ve found something good…?”

“Do you still have drugs?” Sanji asked, strangely breathlessly. “Because I’m about to lose my mind, back here.”

“Well – ”

Law looked at Sabo sharply. Sabo had yet to pull away from the curb. “You have drugs?” Law asked low, frowning.

Sabo blinked at him. “I mean, I just hoard what previous passengers have left behind. Most take a few, but…you really don’t have to.”

He opened up the console to display his wares, gesturing at them while Law looked down at them with revulsion. “Feel free to take what you think you need. It stays between us.”

Law looked to him with a heavy frown, and Sabo felt himself start to sweat. His eyes darted from him to Sanji, then back to his console before revisiting Law’s expression once more.

“Are you a cop?” Sabo then whispered fearfully, swallowing tightly.

Luffy erupted into laughter. “ _No_ , Sabo – ”

“I was,” Law snapped at him, Sabo blinking repeatedly once Law’s attention left him and centered behind his seat. “For a brief time.”

“Oh my god, that fits you,” Luffy then whispered, looking at him with awe. “Maybe you should be one again - !”

“Please don’t,” Sanji murmured, hand to his mouth as he fought his amused reaction to Sabo’s constantly shifting expressions.

“Oh my,” Robin murmured as Sanji realized he spoke aloud. “Sanji…so you have a weakness for men in uniform…”

“ _Robin_ …!”

“I’m not a cop,” Law said to Sabo. After a moment, he grabbed handfuls of the carefully arranged pills in their customized tray, pushing them into his bag. “But I should relieve you of this mess. Just in case.”

Sabo looked to Sanji, then straightened in his chair to face forward. He cleared his throat noisily, then pulled away from the curb to begin driving. Luffy clutched at his seat with both hands, saying excitedly, “Sabo, you should hear this weird adventure I had! I fought an actual demon! He was a demon, right guys? And guess what? I threw a car! Well, it wasn’t me, but I faced my fears and actually threw it!”

“I can’t believe you!” Ussop cried. “Some of the stuff I saw was awesome, but I bet _that_ was super awesome!”

“Yes, we’re here to drop off a few things,” Sanji answered Sabo, folding his hands into his lap. The car was awkwardly tense. He supposed it was Law’s fault.

“Drop off?” Sabo murmured with a frown.

“I chose this place to spend some of my vacation time in,” Robin said. “I have wonderful memories of the parties here.”

“This place is dead,” Law murmured, watching the scenery pass by. He wore a vague frown. “There’s no one in the streets.”

“Well, it is after midnight, but we do have a community active with nighttime activities until two am,” Sabo said, pulling at his collar nervously.

“It’s a good thing,” Sanji told Law. “It’s a break from the city.”

“Usually, places like this have other things roaming about.”

“There is,” Robin assured them both. “But they choose to remain out of sight. With today’s ghost hunters, they are aware of our presence. And your name was whispered frantically amongst the travelers at the station.”

“You’re fuckin’ _famous_ ,” Luffy said enviously, glaring at Law.

“I wonder if I am,” Ussop murmured. “I was an excellent ghost hunter.”

“Really? Why didn’t you come this way, Ussop?”

“Because some stupid demon _ate_ me! I died that way!”

“I thought it was depression…?”

“Well…maybe…I don’t want to talk about it…”

“You’re from the city as well?” Sabo asked Law over the conversation. “What’s with the interest in this building? Asides the, uh, ghosts…”

“We’re dropping off a woman who had died from the turn of the century there, and hopefully your brother as well,” Law said, rubbing at one temple.

“Hey, wait a minute! I was supposed to stay with you guys!” Luffy complained.

Sabo nearly swerved off the road, Sanji giving a low sigh. “I told him about Luffy, but bringing him up that way will most likely get us killed, Law.”

Law looked at Sabo, the man struggling to remain in his lane. The freeway was nearly empty, with an occasional commercial truck driving through, but the living braced themselves cautiously as the car’s tires left marks due to the swerving.

“You don’t believe in ghosts?”

“I _don’t_ , and having you two bring him up - ! How am I supposed to react to strangers talking of my younger brother like they personally knew him?” Sabo exclaimed.

“I see,” Law said, turning his attention to the window once more, hands resting atop of his lap. “I apologize for bringing him up.”

Sabo looked at him incredulously before turning his head back to look at Sanji. “I want to think both of you are mad, but both of you are wearing serious expressions!”

“Well, _he’s_ always mad,” Luffy told him dryly, gesturing at Law. “I haven’t known him to NOT be.”

“Me, too,” Ussop chimed in.

“He can’t hear either of you,” Robin reminded them pleasantly, smiling amidst their complaints and groans.

“We’ll be in and out of your hair shortly,” Sanji told Sabo with some assurance. “If it helps, we can find another ride back to the station.”

Sabo considered this, leaning against his window with an elbow. He chewed on a fingernail with apprehension, one hand on the wheel. Though his expression was fretful, the silence almost overbearing, his thoughts were whirling around their last encounter. Despite what he was able to hear, the teens were loud with their complaints and observations, and he could hear Sanji whispering under his breath for them to stop crowding him. Sabo glanced at Law once more, then adjusted his rear view mirror.

“Both of you…can hear ghosts?” Sabo then asked cautiously, both hands now on the wheel. Luffy leaned against his seat, and incredibly, Sabo was jolted by his weight. He whirled around wildly to see who’d kicked his seat, Law hastily reaching out to snatch the wheel as the car swerved.

“Sorry!” Luffy apologized before chuckling. “Sabo’s always nervous!”

“I swear, if you kill us in this way, I will find you and remove you from that side!” Law snarled at him, Sabo’s hands flying to his hair with agitation.

“Bring it on!” Luffy howled at him, reaching out to snatch his hat. Sabo saw the man’s hat leave his head and drop onto the backseat like it had been thrown violently, and he recoiled wildly to see who else was back there. Law strained to keep the car straightened out while Sanji tightened and clutched his seatbelt with panic. Robin clapped with delight while Ussop shrieked, pounding on the window, sure he was going to die again in a car crash. Luffy cringed and sat back against his friend, causing Ussop to shriek for another reason.

Breathing heavily, Sabo snatched the wheel, then veered off the first exit he could find.

“Oh? We’re taking the scenic route?” Robin inquired politely as their heads swung about, Law bracing himself against the window and dash with a curse. Dust flew as Sabo veered onto the shoulder and pulled completely away from the road. Once he was parked, he attempted to dive out of his car, remembered his seatbelt, then unbuckled himself before flinging himself outward.

“We can walk from here,” Robin told Sanji, who struggled to breathe shallowly, hand pressed to his rapidly beating heart. “It’s a few miles, but the sights along the way should be entertaining.”

“As long as we don’t run into anything…unexpected,” Sanji said slowly, pulling on his backpack as he opened the door and let himself out.

“Oh, so I guess we’re walking?” Luffy asked, waiting for someone to open the door before Ussop dumped them both out. Their ghosts fell onto the ground with combined grunts, Robin gracefully leaving the car with a brush of her skirts. Law sighed heavily, finding his hat and replacing that atop of his head before grabbing his things and climbing out.

Sabo stared at the pair of them with fright, standing within the center of the road. He was sweating, breathing heavily, absolutely positive by the things he’d seen and felt. Luffy walked up to him, looking up at him with a cheerful smile.

“I’ll always come back to you when you need me,” he assured him.

“Which direction?” Law asked Robin curtly, the woman pointing before the pair of them began moving south. Sabo watched him leave with shock, then looked at Sanji as he approached him.

Sanji looked at Luffy. “Would you like to say anything to him?”

“May I have permission?” Luffy asked him grandly, gesturing at him with a curtsy.

“Don’t remove any of my clothes, please,” Sanji told him impatiently, slinging on his backpack as Sabo looked at him with immense confusion. Ussop dusted himself off, tugging his suit back into place with a grumble. He watched as Luffy entered Sanji’s body, the blond cringing for a moment before his body language changed completely.

Sabo’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head as Sanji turned to face him, his expression brightening with a familiar smile.

“Hi, Sabo,” Luffy greeted him, using Sanji’s body to take on his familiar hands on hips pose that Sabo would recognize anywhere. But his mouth dropped open, his eyes unblinking as everything about the sullen blonde changed – his shoulders lifted and straightened, his spine straight – he wore the same dopey smile Luffy often had when greeting him, and his eyes seemed to brighten, shine with the same brilliance his younger brother had when he was alive. Luffy removed Sanji’s glasses, tucking them carefully within his jacket pocket. Sabo then realized that even Sanji’s voice had changed – still the same tonal sound, but with a light, forceful youth to it that caused his flesh to break out into goosebumps. He rubbed his arms absently. His car was still running, headlights shining on the sloped shoulder of the road.

Unable to speak, Sabo stared at Luffy, face paling significantly. Luffy stepped over to him, shoes scuffing against the pavement. It was incredulous how even Sanji’s unusual eyebrows had adjusted to Luffy’s thin curves, how his nose, shadowed by the night, seemed to take on Luffy’s shape. He forgot how to breathe.

“Kinda weird, huh?” Luffy asked him with a snicker, and the sound was familiar to Sabo’s ears. “Talking to ya from someone else’s mouth.”

For a moment, he grew serious. Sabo could still see his deceased little brother in a stranger’s features, and though Luffy was rarely serious in life, he could see every nuance of familiarity on that expression. He struggled to breathe, hand lifting slowly to place over his rapidly beating heart.

“I’m sorry,” Luffy apologized to him quietly. “I should’ve listened to you. Just…I know it hurt, thinking it was your fault, but it really wasn’t. It was mine. I don’t think you should keep blaming yourself for that. You find Ace’s hat?”

Sabo swallowed tightly, hand now fisted in his own shirt. He could barely recall the memory of finding Ace’s hat in the area Sanji had told him to look. But he did. So he nodded once to indicate that he had. Luffy’s smile burst forward once more, and Sabo felt his eyes mist dangerously.

“I told him I’d do it,” Luffy said, chuckling. “Payback for what he did. Did he bitch about it?”

After a few moments, Sabo managed a nod.

“I bet he was so mad! Because I deliberately smooshed it and bent it every which way to make sure he felt punished!”

“…Luffy?”

“Yeah?”

“It’s…it’s really you…?”

“Yep! I guess there’s no real time to explain, but these guys can do stuff like this! And I helped them, so…” Luffy shrugged a shoulder, and Sabo could see him again. He could picture Luffy in a simple tee and basketball shorts, and not the clothes he was buried in. His hands found their way shakily to his mouth, unable to look away. “It’s cool. I could sit with you for days, I was there for a long time after, but…you couldn’t hear me. With these guys, I could be heard. You can see me, right?”

Sabo managed another slow nod, feeling his eyes overfill and start to drip over his clamped fingers. Luffy looked at him with alarm, then reached over and hugged him tightly. Sabo could feel his strength – he could _smell_ him. He could smell Luffy’s hair, his body scent, the fragrance of his laundered shirt and combination bleach that kept it white. And he sucked in breath so hard that it snagged down his throat, making it difficult to breathe. He remained stiff in the man’s arms, unable to move while these sensations crashed over him.

“Don’t cry, goof. I’m gone, like, my body might be gone, but I’m still here. And I’m not hurting, or anything. I’m not in any pain. Yeah, I miss you guys so much, but…but I’m _okay_. And I wanted you to know that.” Luffy leaned back to look at him, still wearing a smile. He patted Sabo’s head before pulling away.

Without knowing he had, Sabo reached out to grab him, attempting to pull back on the person he’d lost. But when he grabbed an arm that was thinner than his brother’s, when he realized the different texture, realized he was looking at a stranger’s face that held his brother’s features, he released him just as quickly.

“Luffy, I…! I…I’m a mess,” he stuttered, unable to come up with the right words for that moment. “I was….this guilt I have, I just…!”

“It wasn’t even your fault,” Luffy told him, reaching out to hit him lightly. “That car did it, Sabo. That driver ran the stop sign, I wasn’t wearing my ‘belt like you told me to. It wasn’t your fault. I don’t want you thinking that it was you when it was a combination of shitty things.”

He shrugged as Sabo struggled to compose himself, but his tears kept falling down his cheeks and soaked the collar of his shirt. He couldn’t seem to breathe, his lungs widening and collapsing with force; his throat was constricted with an invisible grip, and Sabo lost track of the present.

“How is this possible?” Sabo heard himself say, in a voice strangled by emotion.

“I told you, these guys are weird,” Luffy stressed, hand over his mouth as he glanced back. “See that old guy? He’s like, a _vampire_. Born all these years ago. And this guy here, he could always hear and see us!”

“He’s not a vampire, Luffy,” Ussop said helpfully from the car, politely giving them space but unable to let this go.

“I made other ghost friends,” Luffy then told Sabo, grabbing his arm and gesturing at the car. Sabo couldn’t see Ussop, of course, but that didn’t stop the teen from waving at him. “That’s Ussop. He was a ghost hunter, too, he helped those guys stop a demon dude – hey, guess what? When I’m using this guy here, I can throw cars!”

“…Throw…throw cars…?” Sabo repeated.

“I can’t explain it, but - !” Luffy paused in mid-excitement, squeezing his arm once more before yanking him close to hug him tightly. Sabo went stiff for a few moments, smelling Luffy – he closed his eyes, inhaling deeply. For a moment, he was struck with such strong want and yearning for this stranger to be the brother he lost. The combination of a human body, the beating of a heart he could feel pressed against him, the very fragrance of Luffy – all of these things forced Sabo to think that the horrible accident had not happened, and they were together again, hugging out some disagreement because Luffy was a touchy-feely creature that relied on his brothers’ affection.

His hands automatically lifted, touching the back of a man he didn’t know. It felt like a slap in the face to register an unfamiliar body, the texture of clothes he didn’t know. Frizzy blond hair brushed against his exposed skin, reminding him that Luffy’s had been a short explosion of barely controlled curls that smelled of his sweat and shampoo.

But he could _smell_ him – he could smell Luffy, and this confusion rocked his very soul.

Luffy pulled away, using an arm to wipe his face. He was obviously just as upset, Sabo realized, his eyes overfilling once more. Luffy pushed away from him, sniffling noisily.

“Sorry,” he said gruffly, wiping his eyes more feverishly this time. “Yeah, I miss you. I do, I won’t lie. I love you guys, I just…you know me, Sabo. I can’t stay in one place for a long time, I just…I’m helping these guys out, and they’re always, like, trying to bring me back, and I want to be back, but…I wanted to make sure you know these things. That I love you.”

Sabo wasn’t sure what to say, but he watched helplessly as this stranger used Luffy’s face to sniffle and cry in front of him the very same way Luffy had when they were younger.

“I love you, too,” he said heavily, his voice thick with emotion.

Luffy nodded, then chuckled, using the stranger’s jacket to wipe his nose and eyes. He gave Sabo a brilliant smile that only stabbed at Sabo’s heart. _He’d never see that again_. A well of emotion hit him suddenly, and Sabo slowly sat because his legs couldn’t hold him in that moment. He felt the same way he had at the funeral – the day of Luffy’s death.

Crouching in front of him, Luffy bumped his head with his. A familiar gesture.

“I’ll be back,” Luffy then assured him. “You can call these guys, okay?”

He gave Sabo the name of the Polar Tang, and the city, and Sabo gave him a puzzled look. But Luffy rose away from him, wiping his eyes once more.

“It’ll be okay, Sabo,” he assured him, gesturing at Ussop to follow. “I’m still here. Just give them a call, okay?”

Sabo was frozen in place, watching the other man walk away, carrying on a conversation with someone else that he couldn’t see. But he could hear Luffy in that voice, he could see his swagger. His scent was left behind on his clothes. Sabo drew his shoulder up, inhaling deeply. He could still smell his brother on his shirt. Unable to come to grips with the situation, he buried his face into his hands to cry.

: :

Only his footsteps were loud, occasionally dragging over gravel upon pavement. They walked in mutual silence, moving vehicles bypassing them without interference. The city was quiet in its nighttime peace, and while it was a clear opposition compared to the one they’d briefly left behind, it had similar noises; the occasional bark of a dog, the hum of electricity, the sound of vehicles moving and stopping. But the streets were quieter, the presence of the living only limited to the outside presentation of stores that declared They Were Still Open!

Law couldn’t hear Robin’s skirts dragging alongside her steps, and he couldn’t hear her. It was just her presence that gave him an idea that she was there, and while his mind was upon other situations far from them, he did think about the silence she would leave behind.

Attachments were dangerous in their line of work; it gave ghosts the presence of their gleams, it allowed them to act on what they remembered. For as long as he knew her, Robin had nothing. For her to suggest that she did made her more human than her death had.

He glanced at her from the corner of his eye. The lights were dimmer, here. Limited to streetlights and a building. The one they were venturing towards was like a dark, ominous marker in the distance. It seemed to swallow light and sound the closer they grew.

He had her bullet in his jacket pocket. He’d put it wherever she directed, then leave her behind. She’d made her choice, just as he made his.

He could hear the others’ voices in the distance – judging from the sound, Luffy was occupying Sanji. It irritated him, but who was he to say anything?

“Thank you,” he then said, his voice low. “For all these times.”

“No problem,” Robin replied lightly. “Kept me occupied. These days seem to drag even further into the past than they were expanding into the future. I was finding it harder and harder to remain indifferent.”

“What changed?”

“The people I’ve met, most likely. Their occupations and situations. Suddenly, I was searching all of you out more often than before,” Robin said, brow furrowed ever so slightly. Blood and matter glittered as they passed a gas station, causing her dress to shimmer around the collar and bib. “And when it began to matter more than I allowed it to, it became obvious that I would fade. Emotions, even after years of forgetting them, happen to glow around the edges of the wall I built.”

Law pulled the bullet from his pocket, examining it. “Seeing this probably didn’t help.”

“Not for me,” Robin said with a nod, “but in the eventuality of the situation, it did. You would’ve never found the answer in time.”

Law agreed with her. He fisted the bullet in that hand, tucked it into his jacket pocket. “Not with the way things were going.”

Robin paused in mid-step then looked down at him. “Will this time be the last of your adventures?”

Law exhaled slowly, then nodded. “In that manner, of course. While I search out a suitable profession. For now, he agreed to smaller jobs that shouldn’t arise into anything bigger. Those two losers back there…they’ll be the only layers we could use – ”

“Not for our occupation,” he said quickly, seeing the quirk of her brow, “but they can intercept and interfere once the need arises. His empathy can soothe someone’s grief for however briefly it’s allowed. I can remove.”

“Will you be costumed, father?”

“I’m not a priest,” Law said. “I…will not be seeking out anymore costumes. Or disguises. Just…if we are already known, there’s no place in hiding.”

“You’ll always be known. Already, your name reaches places we have yet to arrive.”

Robin shook her umbrella, then lifted it to rest against one shoulder. They began walking again.

“I trust in your values and ethics. You’ve had to learn the hard way that some adventures weren’t always the most satisfying – ”

“But they’ve…” Law faltered for a few moments, thinking about it. Then he finished with, “they’ve brought things back around again. Gave me a chance to fix what I’d broken. I’m not going to allow it to happen again.”

Robin nodded, her head bobbing ever so slightly. After a few moments of quiet steps, she said, “But you mustn’t be so overprotective. It’s only salad.”

“You weren’t there that day. You couldn’t possibly imagine how panicked I’d felt.”

“But you can’t be as suffocating.”

“I am….aware of my boundaries,” Law said slowly, lips twitching. “I’m made aware of them.”

“You’ll respect them.”

“As much as mine are.”

“I think things will work themselves out in this situation. As you’ve said…everything comes back around.”

“I don’t think we’ll be coming back around here, but if we should, it’s only for that brat back there.”

“Trafalgar, your dislike of children is misplaced.”

“I lack the patience.”

“You are the old man here,” Robin said with a chuckle, looking at him. “At an age where most men are bemoaning the lack of their parents’ lack of insurance coverage, but with the mindset of a veteran set in his ways.”

“I am working on that,” Law said impatiently.

Robin chuckled again, continuing on their way. The building approached them sooner than they thought. It was a miles walk from the exit that had been rushed, and Law looked up at the building with skeptical action, unable to see it as the grand setting Robin had been looking forward to. She turned to look at her, skirts rustling against her form. She held her hand out, and he gave her her most treasured item with slow movement. Once settled in her palm, she closed her fingers over the bullet, then turned to look at the building with a low sigh.

“Well, here we are. If fate is fickle, we shall meet again,” she said, looking at him once more.

“You won’t wait for him to catch up to say goodbye?”

Robin shook her head once more, a light smile on her face. “No,” she said firmly. “I believe I’ve said enough to convey my expressions.”

Law accepted her answer. He gave her a slow nod. “Thank you. For all your work. This time should be different.”

She nodded, then turned away from him. Law didn’t see her enter, because she faded without fanfare from his sight.

 _Well, that’s that_ , he thought, tuned into the silence around them. A car horn went off in intervals; trains rattled on the tracks. Somewhere in the distance, a dog barked. Years of a familiar friendship ended without any noise at all, but it felt like a weight had been lifted from his chest. Not from any anxiety, not from any apprehension, but because it felt like the life he’d crafted was finally at its end.

He stood there in silence, just absorbing the peace that fluttered around him. The air smelled fresher, lingering with something metallic. There was a tinge of ash, a musky waft that reminded him of fallen leaves. It smelled of peace and quiet, and it seemed to vibrate with a sensation that felt almost like his first life. He almost remembered that ugly world, but he repressed those memories. There was no need to remember them. Not when he had this life, now.

: :

A year later, he awoke with a start. It took a few moments to understand that it was because the door had shut, and the soft sound had interrupted his dreams. Drowsily, Law opened his eyes, automatically searching for his watch. He hit his phone first, and noted the time. He was finally aware that it was late morning, he had a pounding headache from drinking the night before, and the door shutting had to be either Sanji leaving or coming back home. It took Law a moment to remember what happened the night before, dropping his phone clumsily to the floor as he tried to set it back on the nightstand.

“Are you done being a dumb ass?”

Law blinked heavily, mind momentarily frozen between one memory and the other before the bed shifted with weight. He lifted his head to look over, watching the waiter sit aside of him, eyebrow crooked as he waited for Law to answer.

No, _not_ the waiter.

Sanji reached out and pinched his nose, causing Law to slap his hand away. As Law slowly pushed himself up to sit, Sanji gave him some room to do so, hands in his lap as he looked at the older man with amusement.

“I gave you enough time to think about the shit you said,” he said low, Law rubbing at his eyes and then wincing as he clutched his head, “and now that you accept how fucking stupid you were to say those shitty things to me, I expect an apology.”

The words weren’t new to his mouth, but Law said angrily, “I said what I said, and I stand by what I said.”

Sanji’s lips curled ever so slightly, watching him patiently. In the soft morning light, Law couldn’t help but visually absorb the sight before him. There were still differences between this one and that one; the love was there but new, fresh. Different. In this light, Sanji’s hair was a lighter blonde, barely controlled but given attention in a cut that he’d grown out and allowed to grow into fashionable length around his ears and neck. He’d changed to contacts. He’d gained weight, and with newfound confidence and security, he’d turned into a man with proudly held shoulders, a head that rarely lowered, and a sharp mouth that often administered verbal kicks to Law’s head.

All he’d needed was a chance to build upon himself, and Sanji had found that in Law’s company, in his own rise from the mistreatment that had caused him to hunch. It had taken over a year to find that in their quiet, blooming new business and new relationship. They’d moved in together, they’d built a new life together that wasn’t always smooth flowing, but they were _happy_ together.

Sanji reached out and smoothed hair from Law’s head. He leaned over and kissed him. “You’re so stubborn, sometimes. It’s a good thing you found me to forgive you for things like that.”

Comments like that were an echo from time. Given unexpectedly, without warning – but they always had the same effect on Law. They softened his heart, his soul, and allowed him to be grateful for the chances he’d taken.

The door opened and slammed once more, voices filling the living room. Law looked at the ceiling with exasperation, Sanji struggling not to show too much mirth as he straightened away from him.

“Ugh, he’s _naked_!”

“This jerk! Still in bed?”

“Are we eating breakfast, or not? Because I’ll go cook it myself!”

“Luffy, no…”

“Luffy, _yes_!”

“We have a rule,” Law stressed angrily, ignoring the moving bodies that invaded the room, “and you’re breaking it!”

“The rule was, no demons, no angry unresolved issues,” Sanji said, rising from the bed. “And none of them are fitting of the above rule.”

“I never wanted kids…”

Sanji clapped his hands together lightly to draw his attention his way. “I never imagined having any myself, but here we are. Most of these delightful souls were because of _our_ business. Remember? The one that _you_ insisted on and I reluctantly agreed with?”

“The _light_ ,” Law snarled out. “There is a _light_ \- !”

“I didn’t see a light, did you?” Ussop asked Luffy.

“No light.”

“I didn’t see one, either,” Nami murmured, forever outfitted in a bikini from the sixties, her hair flips given a pat with one manicured nail. Her slim, toned body was covered in bloody streaks, with gruesome stab wounds decorating her chest and stomach. Her skin was blackened halfway towards her back, sagging lightly from the amount of weight pressing against it. She batted long, fluttery lashes, her makeup of that time still in prime condition. “Maybe you should show us again where it’s located…”

Law turned and began searching for his sword, the group hastily scattering out of the bedroom, noisy as they veered towards the kitchen. Giving up as his head spun, headache raging furiously over his brain, he sunk back into his blankets. Sanji watched him with a light smile, hands pushing into his pockets. He was wearing a shirt that was buttoned up to his throat, his trousers belted in place to show off a slim waist, but the jacket he had on was one of Law’s – the one he’d left behind during his moody show last night.

“I’m sorry,” Law then muttered, wiping at his face. “For saying that you’re – too fucking kind to these losers – ”

“I heard that!” one of those ‘losers’ shouted from the other room.

“ – and that perhaps you should quit to take up waiting again.”

“See, here’s the problem with that,” Sanji then said, looking down at the boots that were kicked off in anger, and the socks that were balled and thrown across the room, “you formed a business with the thought that you’d control most of it.You’d control me. I haven’t been allowed to _touch_ a salad or enter a restaurant without you breathing down my neck about it.”

“I didn’t start it with the intention of controlling - !”

“And you knew my problem already. Which was why we already had _two_ children when we opened the doors. Which was, again, _your_ idea. Along the way, I grew comfortable with what we were doing. _Dear_. To politely ask that I quit a job I started to enjoy, and take up another that I have no interest in returning to – ”

“I _wasn’t_ polite.”

“You weren’t. And Jean Bart forgives you for breaking one of his favorite glasses. Good for you, you also have forgiving friends. I’m not quitting this profession, Law. I’ve come to enjoy it. Once I learned to control my boundaries, and learned to depend on you to take care of a situation that neither of us would enjoy _and_ ,” Sanji stressed when Law made to argue, “those children out there do ninety percent of that aspect without you having to lift your sword.”

“Where’s the booze?”

“You’re _dead_ , you can’t drink it,” Sanji snapped over his shoulder, sweeping his hair back from his face.

“Bullshit.”

“We’ve come this far,” Sanji said over the muttered complaint from the kitchen, “and it doesn’t make sense to stop.”

Law sat up, keeping his blankets wrapped around his hips. He had no idea where his shirt was. He lifted a finger, shaking it with insistence. “This is _exactly_ how I started my job, thinking exactly as you were.”

“There is a _huge_ difference between us.”

“But look where it got me. I lived _years_ ,” Law reminded him, making to stand and realizing he shouldn’t. “Hand me my pants.”

“You have working legs.”

Irritated, Law debated on getting up to do so but his head was swimming too much to do so. He rested his forehead into one hand, bracing it atop of one thigh. “I’ve lived years to have too much regret, ignore the bigger mistakes I’ve made, and – ”

“You can’t continue to make decisions that continue smothering me. Now…go take a shower. Get dressed. Shachi ordered a big breakfast for all of us to enjoy in twenty minutes down at the bar.”

“ _Exactly_ how I was. How I spoke. You’re repeating my mistakes.”

“Okay. I’ve listened to you. I’ll take your warning to heart, but…if I remove the children, there could be mistakes made.”

Law considered this, frowning heavily.

“I’m not using them as layers,” Sanji reminded him, turning to find Law’s pants and tossing them in his direction, “but as a wall. So if you want that wall removed, that’s another conversation. I’ll send them out with Shachi, today, while we meet our newest client. See how that goes.”

Law slowly pulled his pants on as Sanji left the room, the ghosts’ voices ringing out noisily from the kitchen. In the midst of the shouting and laughing, Law had to admit that Sanji was lively with his newfound confidence. Hearing his voice now, so strong and confident, laughing with the deceased, Law had to admit he enjoyed it. He just didn’t enjoy the constant company.

He took a shower, drawing out the action and barely managed to make himself presentable. _I should stop drinking so much,_ he thought as he struggled into a clean pair of jeans, stuffing his feet into his boots. _Why am I even indulging when life has been so_ ….?

“We’ll try it,” Law said, entering the kitchen. He walked through the two ghosts that were braced against the counter, causing them to complain. Sanji held out his thermos, putting away the items he’d taken out earlier to make coffee just the way Law liked it. “With the screening process, I doubt we’d run into anything other than a simple possession.”

Sanji watched him for a few moments, then swiped hair from his face. The ends still managed to sweep back into place.

“We’ll give it a try, but,” he added firmly, “you’ll respect the decision I make after. Is that clear?”

“Clear, but – ”

“No buts. This is something you want to do, and I’m compromising with you,” Sanji said, reaching out to shut multiple cupboards closed. The ghost in a law enforcement uniform glared at him from the sink, Nami standing nearby to listen to the conversation with interest.

“I wasn’t trying to be controlling,” Law then added, appreciating his coffee. He took a few moments to breathe it in, to sip at hot liquid that burned his tongue. But it allowed him to feel more awake. “I’m only trying to steer you away from making the same mistakes I did.”

“And I listen to every word you speak. I truly do. But we’re flourishing with this business, and, while it’s significantly tamer than the one you came whirling into my life with, I do understand the dangers attached to it. But these guys,” Sanji said with a gesture at the four ghosts that were watching the scene with interest, “they’re good guys.”

“Gal,” Nami corrected him.

“Guys _and_ gal. They’re my wall. If they think someone is out of the ordinary, they step in. Therefore allowing me the ability to comfort and placate those who lost someone, who just need reassurance that their loved ones had either moved on, or needed attention. And that’s where Penguin’s contacts come in, Ussop’s old group. They flourish off our branches. There’s nothing wrong with the situation. I just think,” Sanji said carefully, “that you’re overthinking the matter, now. Haven’t I changed since then, Law?”

Law didn’t answer verbally, but he did nod ever so slightly.

“I have more control of myself and my…empathies. Because of you. _You_ were the reason why I’ve changed, and because of that, I just…I insist that you feel more confident with me. I get where you’re coming from, I do, I’ve seen the pain in your eyes. But ya gotta loosen the leash. You’re choking me.”

“We can have these types of conversations freely at the house, but when you’re with your friends,” Sanji then added, crossing his arms over his chest, “the situation gets exacerbated to a point where you can’t even think straight.”

“Probably doesn’t help he’s always boozing,” Zoro muttered, equipment belt clinking as he clenched his fists with envy.

“Like a dehydrated man in the desert,” Nami added, hand to cheek.

“Penguin’s the instigator,” Ussop whispered.

Luffy laughed merrily. “He’s so unreasonable!”

“I don’t need comments from the peanut gallery,” Law argued. He gestured wildly at them. “If that’s the situation, then why are they here with their two cents in the matter?”

Before he knew it, their forms faded away. The apartment became more spacious, quiet. Sanji watched him quietly, waiting for Law to sip once more at his drink. Once he became comfortable with the space given to them, he cradled the thermos within both hands to warm his fingers. From the window, the gentle morning bloomed over the buildings around them. It warmed the window panes, alit the kitchen with soft light. Airplanes coasted overhead, causing a slight rattle of hanging cups below the cupboards. Though the sounds of the city outside were quiet, it appeared that the world was in a quiet, slow moving place of its own. The sky was blue and wide, without the constant presence of low hanging clouds. Though the temperatures had dropped, as they usually did this time of year, it wasn’t always heavy coats required. The day would warm comfortably, and layers were required.

It was a peaceful life. Quiet and slow, and while Law sometimes missed the excitement of a hunt, he did have the occasional pleasure of running into something drawn by their shop that was eager for a confrontation. His name, their names, were still uttered by the dead. Nami had even asked about the group first, when first introduced to Sanji by her living sister, who was convinced her dead sister was haunting their home.

But while he missed the hunt, he was appreciative of this peaceful life. It was a long time coming, and he was starting to believe in Sanji’s words, in that Law earned it. He still thought about Kreig’s last words, feeling guilt eat at him, but at the same time – he believed in what he did.

He just didn’t want Sanji sharing the same feelings, knowing how difficult the other man handled such things.

He said slowly, “I like this life I have, now. The things, the people I have – they are precious to me. I might act unreasonable with my smothering, but there’s a reason why I’m holding onto them so tightly.”

“I know. Whenever I see you smile, I see how much love for life you have, now,” Sanji told him, stepping in close to him, his fingers moving to Law’s chest before his arms wrapped around him, hugging him tightly. Law used an arm to wrap around him, bracing against the counter. He breathed in the scent of the other man’s hair, appreciated the warm weight of his body against him. With his cheek pressed against his chest, Sanji smiled lazily, listening to the beat of the other man’s heart against his head.

 _How many years, now_? He wondered. _Sometimes it feels like it’s been forever. Time doesn’t make sense._

For Law, it felt the same. It didn’t feel like a new relationship. It felt like one he’d always had. So many similarities, and yet the differences did remind him from time to time that it wasn’t the same. But he supposed he could let go of those nuances now.

They were right where they needed to be.


End file.
